


Within The Shadows

by InLoveWithHosie01



Category: Dreamcatcher - Fandom, Red Velvet - Fandom
Genre: Akame Ga Kill - Freeform, Assassins, Corruption, Dreamcatcher, F/F, Gore, Humanity, Love, PTSD, Poly, Protection, Red Velvet, Sacrifice, Self-Sacrifice, Sinjibo, Smut, Torture, Unattainable, Violence, War, Weapons, hostage, jiyoo, secret, suayeon, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:48:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 36,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25211908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InLoveWithHosie01/pseuds/InLoveWithHosie01
Summary: The Kingdom of Polaris is in shambles, a rebellion has formed to overthrow the Monarchy and put an end to the Spider’s reign.Seven deadly assassins group together to take down any corrupted person of power, seven women that all have one thing in common; hate for the royal family.
Relationships: Han Dong | Handong/Lee Gahyeon/Lee Yoobin | Dami, Kim Bora | SuA/Kim Minji | JiU, Kim Bora | SuA/Lee Siyeon, Kim Minji | JiU/Kim Yoohyeon
Comments: 44
Kudos: 144





	1. The Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys, 
> 
> So this is a heavily based DREAMCATCHER au. I know I mentioned Red Velvet but that’s because they’re going to be in it, just not a lot.
> 
> As always, feedback is welcomed with open arms so please comment what you think. This isn’t the final version, I will edit it once I finish editing the finale chapter for We Were Never Meant To Be.
> 
> Remember to stream Rose Blue when it releases and to stream Monster by IRENE and SEULGI.
> 
> Twt: @madenayeonsmile.

To say she fucked up was putting it lightly. 

As Yoohyeon crawled through the ventilation system in a known corrupt policy maker warehouse and hit her foot off the side of the air duct, she felt her heart sink when the room below her went quiet, indicating that they heard her. 

"Wolf to Puppy, please tell me that wasn't you?" Lee Siyeon cracked through her intercom, her voice laced with worry. 

(Lee Siyeon. 23. Wolf. Swift, strong and Deadly.) 

Yoohyeon laid as still as she could, trying to calm her racing heart. "Stop talking." Yoohyeon did her best not to move, hiding her face in her shoulder to silence her breathing.

(Kim Yoohyeon. 21. Puppy. Clumsy, intelligent and fast.) 

"If anyone is up there, you better come down unless you want a thousand bullets being shot towards you." A deep voice called up before the cocking of several guns rang out.

"5...4...3..." They began to count down making Yoohyeon's heart beat faster, making her feel disoriented. "2-"

"Sir! There's movement on the south perimeter, what do we do?" A panicked voice asked.

"Take several men and go check it out. Approach the situation with delicacy, only shoot if they show resistance." 

"Yes sir!" Several voices said at the same time before heavy footsteps exited the room. 

Yoohyeon released a shaky exhale as she began to crawl quickly towards her position, trying her best to make zero noise. Once in position, she took out her laptop and pressed her com. "Puppy to Wolf, I'm in position, proceed with caution. Over." 

"Wolf receiving puppy, understood. Tell me what you know."

"Their data is airtight but I may be able to access it if I shake things up a little." Yoohyeon typed fast, stopping for a few seconds to make sure no guards could see her position on top of the roof before refocusing. "I'm in. Ten guards at the south entrance and three men patrols every ten minutes."

"Where's Murati's position?" Siyeon asked.

"Basement, I think. That bastard is with Minji." Yoohyeon's voice cracked at the mention of their friend who was taken captive two years ago during a mission to intercept a package of false evidence, it turned out to be a trap.

Her intercom clicked and Siyeon spoke again. "We have eyes on our bunny. We do this quickly, no one gets out of this alive, do you read me?" 

"This is Fox, I read you." 

(Lee Gahyeon. 19. Fox. Clever and cunning. Don't let her cute face fool you.) 

"Panda reads you." 

( Lee Yubin or Dami. Panda. 20. Fierce and strong.)

"I read you." 

"Handong..." Siyeon sighed. 

"Fine, Cat reads you." 

(Handong. 22. Cat. Agile, graceful, fast.)

"Elephant reads you. Can we go now? I've been kneeling for the past ten minutes." Kim Bora, AKA Queen SuA, demanded. "Minji won't be alive if we wait any longer." 

( Kim Bora or SuA. 24. Elephant. Loud, powerful and flexible.) 

"Take them out quietly, try not to use your guns, understood?" Yoohyeon ordered as she put her laptop in her backpack and took out her crossbow. 

No one replied but Yoohyeon knew they were prepared. Today, they would succeed. Today, they would get their friend back. 

Taking out the guards took longer than expected and it was taking a toll on her stamina. Yoohyeon was breathless by the time she came across a third guy and because of that, she was getting her ass handed to her. She ran out of arrows and was using her crossbow as a bat, succeeding in knocking his gun out of his hand but now, unfortunately, he managed to knock her down and straddle her, punching her before picking her up and throwing her into the wall, making her cry out in pain.

"You know, I killed a lot of people in my time. No one has made themselves worthy enough for my full attention." Taking a dagger from his blazer pocket, the man grinned manically as he tightened the hand that was holding her throat. "But you've lasted just as long as the others and like them, you'll share their fate." He pressed the point of the knife to her throat. "I always liked ruining the pre-"

"Get the fuck off her." A familiar voice growled before the hand on her throat disappeared. 

Bora had ran at the man with full force, shoving him off Yoohyeon before she stood like a panther ready to pounce in the space between the younger one and the corrupted man. Regardless of her height, Bora was a force to be reckoned with, she was dressed in black shirt paired with black armoured tunic and a loose black assassin coat, her trousers were loose to help her movements be less restricted and more wild. Her hood was up and her mask was secured tightly. Dual Dungon Pimmagay swords in her hands and her eyes fiery with determination, she will not be losing Minji again.

"If you want someone to fight, come at me." Bora stood up to her full height slowly, taking in the man before her. 'He's big but he could be fast, long arms so he won't need to get really close to me.' Bora thought as she readjusted her grip on her blades. ' Let him attack me.' 

"You're a child. Look at how small you are!" The man cackled as he approached her slowly. "Why don't you leave this to adults, hm? Run along." He reached out to grab the sword but Bora sidestepped, knocking him on the back with the blunt of her sword, causing him to stumble.

The man frowned. "Now that wasn't nice." He turned, reaching out again, aggressively.

Once again, Bora sidestepped and knocked the blunt of the sword onto his back, this time she was hard enough to cause the man to fall. "Is that really all you have?" 

The man ran towards her and before he could realise his mistake, Bora smirked before sprinting towards him, check. Bora let herself slide, her eyes shadowed by her hood as she sliced his leg before gracefully twirling and slicing his other. Without much effort, she sheathed one of the swords and stabbed with all her might through his back, the point of the sword disappearing but then reappearing on through the other side of his body before quickly exiting. 

Without glancing back, she wiped the blood off the blade before sheathing it. She knelt down in front of Yoohyeon, worried. 

"Are you okay, puppy?" Bora asked gently, taking a look at her wounds; a busted lip, a black eye and bruising. "Is anything broken?" 

Yoohyeon shook her head, forcing herself to sit up properly, groaning as she did so. "I'm not sure." 

"Let's get you up and meet at the point, okay?" Bora helped Yoohyeon to her feet, letting her lean on her as she strapped the crossbow on her back. "Ran out of arrows, huh?" 

"Didn't have enough time to get my sword." Yoohyeon grumbled as they walked down the stairs, wincing at every step.

Bora paused, listening to the commotion outside before continuing walking. "Listen, when we get to Minji, there's a possibility she'll be dead."

"Bora-"

"No listen to me, Yoohyeon." Bora stopped her. "I get that you're a super positive person who's always optimistic but you need to know that there's a possibility that it won't be okay. That Minji won't be okay." 

Yoohyeon's eyes watered. "How can you even think that? Our contact said she was alive so she is. She's your friend, how can you think that?"

"It's because she's my friend." Bora answered. "But the mission comes first, we go in, secure the perimeter and then we rescue her. On the way out, Gahyeon blows this place up and kills Murati. Follow the rules, it's what Minji would've wanted. Be safe before risking anything for her."

Yoohyeon glanced away, knowing the older woman was right but couldn't help but feel the strain of tears on her throat. "Okay.."

"Okay, good." Bora nodded before picking up her pace. "Now let's hurry before Siyeon thinks I killed you." 

Once the reached the stairs that led to the basement, Bora took out both of her swords, handing one to Yoohyeon as she winked. "Let's kill someone fucked up people, hm?"

"Without us?" Siyeon spoke from behind them. "I'm offended you'd leave us out of that." 

"Trying to beat my kill list, hm?" Bora raised her eyebrow as Siyeon smiled.

"I don't want to beat you, love." Siyeon pecked Bora's lips. "I want to be equal to you." 

Handong cleared her throat, breaking whatever trance the older women were in. "We have a mission, can you keep it in your pants for a few minutes? Please." 

Siyeon nodded before her eyes sparkled with mischief and she smirked. "Let's unleash chaos, hm?"

"Do you sense anything?" Handong asked Yoohyeon quietly as they got into formation.

The younger woman closed her eyes for a few seconds before shrugging. "I can't really sense anything in here. Everything is really...dull." 

The six girls threw open the door that led to the basement, weapons at the ready as they released a battle cry only to be welcomed to a guard less room. The first thing they picked up on were the bloodstains, the bloodied weapons and the cages. Next was the smell of mould which was most likely due to the dampness and broken water pipe in the corner.

"Oh my God, Minji!" Yoohyeon cried out when she noticed her, limping forward to get her only to be stopped by Gahyeon. 

Gahyeon was looking at the ground intensely before clearing her throat. "There's trip wire so be careful where you're walking, guys." 

Their eyes drifted to their missing friend. Two ropes were tied tightly around her arms, making her hover over the ground. Even from the distance, they could see the clear wounds on her wrists. The white shirt she wore the day she disappeared now stained with blood and sweat. Her dark hair covered her face. 

The girls swallowed nervously, before Siyeon nodded at Bora who began to manoeuvre her way through the wires, making sure she wasn't touching anything suspicious. 

"Gahyeon , look for a way to disable the wires. Dami, keep lookout for any guards. Yoohyeon, make sure my girlfriend doesn't accidentally kill us all." Siyeon ordered before she scaled the wall and jumped onto a ledge to an open window. "I'm gonna see if that son of a bitch is close by." And with that, she rolled out of the window.

After a few seconds of intensely staring, "We have a problem." Gahyeon released a panicked yelp, jumping away from one of the wires. "This entire is rigged but I can't tell what it's rigged to do. Either explode or fill up, and we should hope for the latter." 

"Why?" Bora asked as she rolled under another wire.

"This entire room smells like gas, if it explodes, we're fucked." Gahyeon answered. The girls blinked, each one inhaling before their eyes widened; how the fuck did they not notice the smell earlier?

Yoohyeon could barley acknowledge what Gahyeon said, she couldn't get her attention away from Minji who hung meters away from them, oblivious to the fact they were finally here to rescue jeez 

"Bora! Cut her down!" Yoohyeon said as she older woman poked Minji, her voice cracking.

Bora flinched at the sudden noise but nodded, unsheathing her dagger before basically climbing the unconscious woman to get to the rope. "Don't worry, Minji, we're gonna get you out of here." 

The first rope nipped, causing Bora and Minji to swing, making the former lose her grip and fall to the ground and land on a wire. "Fuck!" 

Yoohyeon quickly made her way to Minji and Bora. "Don't move, okay? I'm coming!"

"I'm so glad you told me that otherwise who knows I would've gotten up!" Bora rolled her eyes before carefully placing her hand on the wire, making sure it was still ignited.

Yoohyeon froze suddenly, her head snapping towards the door as soon as Dami opened it to get their attention.

"Guys! We have company!" Dami yelled.

Bora looked at Yoohyeon, fear clear in her eyes before ordering. "Gahyeon and Handong, go help Dami!" The younger girl hesitated before rushing to where Dami was, following the feline. 

Yoohyeon managed to cut the last rope, catching the older one when she dropped and placing her gently on the ground. "Minji? Minji, please wake up!"

"She's breathing which means she's alive." Bora smiled, exhaling in relief before she looked up, a look of shock appeared on her face. "What are you doing here?" 

"Thought you'd might need my help, guess I was right." 

(Kang Seulgi. 26. Bear. Brave and strong)

"Does your boss know you're here?" Yoohyeon asked, not wanting trouble with one of the deadliest assailants. 

Seulgi nodded as she sat on the ledge, dangling her feet and swinging them as if she were a child again. "Yeah. She's the one who told me to follow you guys. She's smart." 

"Are you gonna help us or stay up there and chat?" Bora called, getting to her feet, hands firmly placed on her hips.

Seulgi gave her signature smile before dropping to the ground, landing perfectly on her feet. "Let's get you guys to safety, hm?" 

"Fake.."

Yoohyeon snapped around, facing Minji who was trying to open her eyes. "Minji!"

Minji looked deathly. Her dark hair was sticking to her grimy face with sweat, her lips were dry and cracked, blood stained the corners of her mouth and her skin no longer had that youthful glow that Yoohyeon loved. 

"Th-they're not r-real." Minji coughed roughly into her shirt before wheezing, fresh blood staining her shirt and mouth."N-not real."

"What isn't?" Seulgi asked, crouching so she could hear her better.

Minji inhaled slowly as she opened her eyes. "Wires. Th-they aren't real." 

"Minji, are you sure?" Bora asked quietly, uncertainty clear in her eyes.

Minji nodded slowly before rasping. "Tricks. Used them a lot. Not....Real." 

Bora took a deep breath, stepping off the wire and when it clicked, she let out a exhale. "Oh my God." 

"Let's get her out of here." Seulgi said, leaning down to pick Minji up only to be startled then the door slammed shut. 

Dami cleared her throat. "We need to get out of here. Now." 

"There's so many of them, we don't stand a chance." Gahyeon added as she helped Handong barricade the door. 

"That's not even the worse part." Handong looked at them. "They have a berserker." 

"The window." Seulgi pointed. "Two climb up with rope, we throw it down and make a harness for Minji to pull her up. The others are down there for protection." 

"Who's going up?" Bora asked as she gently gave Minji some water, making sure she didn't choke as she drank.

Minji shook her head, her entire body shaking as she spoke. "No...no rope." 

"You're not in any state to climb." Seulgi frowned.

"Teleport.." Minji looked at Yoohyeon, her eyes pleading. "I can teleport us. No rope..."

"No way." Bora shook her head, making the older woman look at her. "That takes enough energy from you, you're not in any state to do that." 

"I see y-you haven't changed." Minji smiled weakly before gesturing for Seulgi to sit her against the wall. "I haven't chan-ged either which means I w-will be getting us o-out." 

"Minji, you could die.." Yoohyeon's eyes filled with tears as she took in the older girl's weakened state. She could barely keep her head up and eyes open, exhaustion clearly overwhelming her.

Minji shook her head weakly. "I-it's not l-like I haven't al-already."


	2. How Do You Feel About Revenge?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mainly going to be focused on Bora’s past. 
> 
> TW:  
> -Violence  
> -Swearing  
> -Injuries
> 
> This au doesn’t take place in a certain timeline, the best I can describe it is “old but modern” they have technology but prefer not to use it. It also doesn’t take place in our world.

“I need five minutes.” Minji pushed herself onto her knees, groaning as she did. “I just need to focus.” 

  
  


“Open this door!” One of Murati’s men shouted through the metal door. “Someone get this fucking door open!”

  
  


“Unnie! Please hurry!” Gahyeon yelled in a panic as she unsheathed her katana. “They’re going to break through the door!” 

  
  


Minji opened her eyes, gasping for air as she grasped Yoohyeon’s hand. “Energy, give me energy.” 

Yoohyeon nodded, taking out a pocket knife and cutting into her palm, wincing before she did the same to Minji’s palm. Yoohyeon inhaled sharply, closing her eyes. “ _ Per arbitrium meum, magniloquentia confero me ad vos vires. Ut det vobis id omne _ .” Minji and Yoohyeon let out a gasp, Minji bolted upright whereas Yoohyeon doubled over, tears springing to her eyes. 

“ _ Lanuae magicae, lanuae magicae, lanuae magicae _ .” Minji closed her eyes and continued to chant. “ _ Lanuae magicae, lanuae magicae, lanuae magicae. _ ” Minji inhaled sharply, as she made a circle with her hands, each movement flowing into the next. Wind battered the open window, howling furiously. Suddenly everything went quiet before the ground under them began to shake, dust swirled around the room, making it impossible to see. 

A loud whistle sounded before everything stopped. The dust settled and they were in the forest. They were outside.

"Holy shit.." Bora fell onto her knees in disbelief. "We're out."

Handong let out a relieved sigh. "I didn't think we would get out."

Minji placed a comforting hand on Yoohyeon's back, helping her sit up. "Thank you. Th-thank-" Minji grabbed the nearest tree as she fell to her knees. 

"Minji!" Bora yelled in worry, rushing over to where the unconscious girl fell. "Minji, please wake up. Please." 

"Siyeon?" Dami turned on her intercom. "Panda to Wolf, come in Wolf." 

"Wolf reads you, what's your position?" Siyeon's voice cracked through the com, unsteadily. 

"We're in the forest that's surrounding the property, I don't know where exactly." Dami answered. "Where are you?" 

"I tried to see if I could find Murati..." 

Dami pressed it her intercom. "Siyeon, tell us where you are."

"I'm at the loading bay...I'm going to come to you." Siyeon answered, her voice was gentle. "We need to have a meeting. Meet at the base." 

***AT THE BASE***

"How's she doing?" Yoohyeon asked Doctor Sunmi who was bandaging an unconscious Minji and changing her AV bag.. 

Dr. Sunmi paused. "Physically, she went through a lot. The energy you gave her only eased her pain for a few moments. I'm more concerned about her mental state though.” 

Using her thumb, Yoohyeon gently ran it along Minji's jawline. "I missed her." 

"She will need space, Yoohyeon." Dr. Sunmi told her quietly. "You can't expect her to be her normal self... She'll come back to you one bit at a time, okay?" 

Yoohyeon nodded, her eyes never leaving Minji's peaceful face. "Can I have some time with her? Before I have to go meet with the others?" Dr. Sunmi nodded, leaving without making a noise. Yoohyeon's eyes dropped to Minji, a small smile on her face as she spoke softly. "Hey bunny, welcome home...I-we missed you. It hasn't been the same here without you, I'm sorry we took so long to find you..I'm glad you're okay." Yoohyeon blinked back tears, leaning down to rest her forehead against Minji's. "I'm glad you're home bunny." As she pressed her lips gently on her forehead, a soft exhale underneath her. 

"Hi puppy." A raspy voice greeted. 

Yoohyeon looked down to see Minji's eyes on her. "Hi Minji." 

“You were crying.” Minji’s voice was fragile. 

Yoohyeon shook her head. “I would never cry, I don’t do that.” 

“You know that I have a pretty good memory.” Minji smiled weakly, placing a soft hand on Yoohyeon’s cheek, blushing when the younger woman leaned further into her touch. 

"You never seem to forget things that I’m embarrassed about.” Yoohyeon buried her face in Minji’s neck.

Minji let out a soft chuckle. “I think they’re cute, not embarrassing.” Minji inhaled gently, as she tried to stretch only to let out a groan of pain, arching her back. “Fuck!”

Yoohyeon flinched as she immediately stood up to help. She placed a soft hand on Minji's back. “Lay back down, I got you.”

“This sucks.” Minji let out a choked sob, covering her eyes when she was finally on her back. “I fucking hate this so much.” 

“Minji…” Yoohyeon’s voice was soft. “Can I ask what happened? What went wrong with the interception?”

“I-“ 

“Are you guys decent?” Bora knocked at the door before opening it to poke her head through it. “Good!” Bora entered the room, running to Minji and forcing her into a suffocating hug. Today, Bora wore an orange top with a silver chain and black blazer and skinny jeans. Her hair was straight and her makeup natural.

“Unnie!” Yoohyeon quickly pulled her away. “Minji has stitches, you’ll reopen them all!”

“Oh shit!” Bora panicked. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t think.”

“Yeah, you didn’t think which is the problem!” Yoohyeon scolded. “You have a brain, Bora. Use it.” 

Yoohyeon paled as Bora stared at her. She was dead.

“We have a meeting, let’s go.” Bora set her jaw and turned on her heel.

Yoohyeon cleared her throat. “I thought I would stay here… to keep her company.” 

“Meetings are mandatory.” Bora stopped. “That doesn’t change now that Minji is home. In fact, it means we need to attend the meeting because our target hopped on a helicopter whilst we were in the basement. He got away. Again.” She faced them. “Meeting in five minutes. Attend or Wolfie will enjoy beating your ass. Again.” 

“Go to the meeting, puppy.” Minji squeezed Yoohyeon’s hand lightly. “I’ll be here when you get back.”

Yoohyeon’s face somewhat dropped, looking like a scolded puppy with her tail between her legs. She followed behind Bora, closing the door behind them. When she turned, Bora pinned her against the wall, her hand on her throat, cutting off air supply, Yoohyeon’s hand flew up to grip Bora’s wrist

“Now listen to me closely, Yoo.” Bora loosened her grip for a few seconds, giving Yoohyeon a chance to breathe before tightening her grip. “I don’t care that you talked to me like that, I care that Minji isn’t even here for a week and you’re already looking at her like the same love struck puppy you were two years ago. She is not the same Minji, okay? She’s not. Yoohyeon, you were planning on telling her your feelings when she got back, right?” When Yoohyeon nodded, she continued. “Now that she’s back, all of those emotions are rushing back. I know you have bad self control which is why I’m warning you now, if you confess, I will break every bone in your body. Have I made myself clear?” 

Yoohyeon’s grip tightened and Bora let go, fixing her blazer before nodding. “Let’s hurry or we’ll be late.” 

***THE MAIN HALL***

The girls were all looking up at the monitor that had a security camera paused on a white middle aged man, a scar on his chin. 

“Now that we’re all here, we can begin.” Siyeon pointed at the screen. “This is Murati’s second in command, his name is Harvey Duvall. He’s wanted in over 5 countries for human trafficking, drug trafficking and several homicides. He was also in charge of the cartel that Minji was supposed to intercept. He planned her capture.” 

“Why?” Gahyeon frowned.

“From what I gathered, Minji used to work for Murati but when she found out what he was doing, she attempted leave. She gave Duvall his scar.” Siyeon answered, tapping the space bar only to tap it again when nothing happened. She sighed. “Who was using the computer again? Guys, we’ve had this conversation before, this is only for assignments.”

“Me and Yoohyeon were playing PUBG.” Gahyeon played with her fingers nervously. “I’m sorry.” 

“Did you at least win?” Siyeon tapped the screen.

“Of course Yoohyeon didn’t win, have you ever seen her play?” Handong laughed. “It makes me question how she’s one of the deadliest.” 

The room erupted into laughter, temporarily easing the mood before Dami finally spoke from her seat, balancing perfectly with the feet on the table.

“How do we know Minji hasn’t been compromised?” Her question was quiet but had the same affect as a flash grenade. Everyone was quiet.

Gahyeon raised her hand. “I can give her the physical examination to make sure there’s nothing harmful to us or to her.” 

“Then it’s settled.” Siyeon clasped her hands together. “Gahyeon will examine Minji physically and Handong will examine her mentally as soon as possible.” 

“What?” Handong’s eyes widened. “I can’t do that!”

“You’re the only one who can scan people’s minds.” Siyeon pointed out. “It has to be you.”

“It’s a huge invasion of privacy, Siyeon!” Handong protested. “If I enter her mind, I’d have to go through two years of absolute torment… I couldn’t do that to any of you...especially Minji.”

“Aww, Dongie loves us, girls.” Bora pressed her hand to her heart, wiping fake tears with her other. “I think I’m emotional.” 

”Everyone except Bora.I would happily do it to her.” Handong folded her arms. 

Siyeon clapped her hands together as she laughed but immediately stopped upon seeing the older woman’s fiery eyes and mischievous expression that said three words;  _ Just. You. Wait.  _

“Moving on,” Siyeon said hurriedly, “we have a paid job tonight, the chosen assassins are the Elephant, the Puppy and the Fox. Congratulations Gahyeon on your first mission!”

Gahyeon beamed. She only recently finished all of her training and was now allowed to go on field missions without a supervisor. 

“I won’t let you guys down!” Gahyeon shot to her feet, bowing before happily clapping her hands together. “I’ll do her proud!”

Bora smiled softly. “You already have, kiddo.” 

“What’s the mission?” Yoohyeon asked, blinking away the tears that gathered in her eyes. 

Siyeon smirked at Bora, her eyes glinting. “How do you feel about revenge?”

  * ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••



Each girl was given a representative animal based on how their first successful mission went, so, for instance; Bora was deemed “The Elephant” because of how much noise her target made when they clashed swords. Yoohyeon was named “The Puppy” as her target greatly underestimated her because of her cute looks, her target was found pinned to the wall, his face frozen in an eternal but silent scream of pain. Gahyeon was called “The Fox” for many reasons but mainly for her cleverness and slyness. She took down four targets before any of them could alert their guards. 

The three girls stayed out of sight as they made their way to their destination, Bora navigated the roofs easily, jumping from one piece of scaffolding to the next without breaking a sweat nor alerting the guards that were below her. Yoohyeon used the alleys, travelling through the shadows and taking down any one who tried to follow her. Gahyeon made her way through the sewage system, setting up alarms and making sure they had a good escape. They arrived almost at the same time as each other, smiling at each other’s familiar faces.

“So, how are we entering?” Gahyeon asked as she tightened the grip on her bow. 

Bora answered. “The roof. There’s a sunlight window we can enter through.”

“What about security?” Yoohyeon began climbing up a wall that led to a close building.

Bora shrugged. “Child’s play. We can be in there for ten minutes before security alerts them.” 

Gahyeon smirked. “Plenty of time to do a lot of damage.”

The trio of assassins scaled the surrounding buildings with ease, blending into the shadows like it was their second nature because it was. They landed on the roof with grace, Bora pressing her gloved finger to her mouth, pointing at the open entrance where smoke was coming from. 

Gahyeon was the first one to move forward, keeping her body close to the ground, creeping forward like a fox. Peering over the edge, Gahyeon immediately shot back, coughing into her elbow. “That’s so strong!” Gahyeon rubbed her watery eyes, blinking several times. “Holy shit.” 

“Language!” Yoohyeon scolded as she opened her satchel, and gave them a gas mask. “I modified these ages ago so not only do they protect us from gases, they now protect us from any form of toxic air substance. Put them on.” 

The women geared up before slipping through the window and jumped onto a suspended walkway. They froze when it began to sway. 

“Look down.” Bora whispered in horror.

Females, dozens of them lined up like cattle, each one wearing a tag around their neck. They were being sold. Females were lured here under hidden truths. Each one was told that they had a well paying job here waiting for them, only that wasn’t it. As soon as they were welcomed into the bathhouse, the anaesthetic like drug would be blown through their air vents, rendering them unconscious before men would come into their dorms and steal them away. Selling them as if they were animals. 

Bora set her jaw, her hand already on the hilt of her sword. 

“There’s one of our targets.” Gahyeon pointed to a window that looked onto the girls, a woman wearing a tight red dress sat on a chair with a champagne glass in her hand. Emilia Bae. 

( _ Emilia Bae. 35. Spider. Bora’s nemesis. Fast, Skilled and Dangerous) _

Yoohyeon nocked an arrow, taking aim. “Are you guys ready for chaos?” They nodded and Yoohyeon grinned. “Let’s get an Elephant her revenge, yes?” She released the arrow and, as expected, it bounced harmlessly off the window but got the woman’s attention.

“You girls know what you have to do.” Bora shot her grappling hook and gave a miniature salute as she descended to face her fate.

Bora fought her way through the guards with ease, deflecting and striking without breaking a sweat. Kicking the office door open, Bora immediately crossed swords with Emilia who was unsurprisingly waiting for her. A wild smile on her lips. 

“Hello, little one.” Emilia greeted her with a smirk. “Come home to beg Mistress dearest to forgive you?” 

“You wish!” Bora grunted, jumping back to unsheathe her other sword and leap forward. 

Emilia blocked with ease, one hand behind her back as if she was in a fencing match. “My, have you forgotten your manners. Maybe I should beat them into you again, hm?”

As if she was in a waltz, Bae twirled as she blocked and dodged several attacks that would’ve ended anyone by now. But she wasn’t anyone, she was Bora’s teacher. 

***FLASHBACK***

_ “I’m never going to see them again!” An eight years old Bora cried, tears streaming down her cheeks as Emilia bandaged her bloody hand. Bora sat in the painting room of the Bae Castle. Her white tunic stained with mud and blood.  _

_ Emilia looked up. “Why do you think that?” _

_ “You keep beating me…” Bora pouted. “I’ll never win the deal and see my family.” _

_ “What did I tell you about that, SuA?” Emilia forced the young girl to meet her eyes. “We are your family, we’ve fed you, clothed you and taught you skills you would have never been able to learn in that village of yours.”  _

_ Bora trembled. “Why do you keep calling me that? It’s not my name.” _

_ “It is now, little one.” Emilia pressed a gentle kiss against her forehead. “SuA Bae. You will be the personification of elegance and beauty when you come of age. Dangerous to all those who would hurt you...and me.”  _

***PRESENT DAY***

Bora let out a groan of pain when she was thrown into the wall, causing her to fall to her knees and drop one of her swords in a daze. 

“Pathetic as always, I see.” Emilia struck her with the hilt of her sword, breaking her gas mask and busting her lip. “I taught you everything I knew and yet this is how you turned out? A disappointment. I don’t want to kill you SuA, just submit to me and we can move on.” 

Bora lunged herself forward, rolling under a wild slash at the air before slicing upwards, managing to draw blood from Emilia’s wrists. Bora turned slowly, bringing her sword up to her right shoulder and gritted her teeth. “That’s. Not. My. Name.”

“Of course it is. You used to submit to it so well. Especially after we beated it into you.” 

***FLASHBACK***

_ A sixteen years old Bora deflected the attack with trouble , blocking above her head with shaky arms and legs. Sweat trickled down her face as she struggled to dodge, grunting in pain when her opponent kneed her in the ribs. _

_ “Is that all you can do little girl?” He snarled, spitting at her, making her antsy. _

_ Bora felt her knees shake. She was dressed in an armoured leather tunic which had long sleeves and long trousers with no socks and tight shoes, every step she could feel them cutting into her. The heat didn’t help, as the sweat only made the skin on her feet more tender.  _

_ She stabbed her sword into the grass to lean on it, she looked pleadingly to the onlookers in the shade. “Please, I can’t.” No one moved and her face connected with a punch, making her fall to her knees sputtering up blood.  _

_ “It ends when you kill him, SuA.” Emilia called after taking a sip of water. Bora cried out in pain when his iron toed boot came into contact with her stomach, again and again.  _

_ “The poor dear..” Emilia’s mother flinched when an unmistakable crack was heard and a scream of pain. “Don’t you think you’re being too harsh on her?” _

_ Emilia shook her head. “She has to learn.”  _

_ Bora let out a whine as she rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself to her knees, holding her stomach in pain. A path of blood ran down her forehead all the way to her chin. Her left eye was bruised and swollen shut, her left hand fractured. _

_ “Time for a break, you two.” Emilia called, clapping her laced gloves hands. “Go get some water, Cedric.” _

_ Cedric bowed. “Yes ma’am.”  _

_ Bora stayed crumpled up, not realising Emilia was in-front of her until she cleared her throat. She looked up with pleading eyes. “Please, I can’t continue.”  _

_ “You will, SuA.” Emilia kneeled down, running her hand through Bora’s hair soothingly. “You don’t want to disappoint me again, do you?”  _

_ Bora immediately shook her head, looking up at her Mistress. “Rest. I just needed rest.” _

_ “Would you like some water, SuA?” Emilia’s father appeared behind his daughter, his light blue eyes hidden behind his dark sunglasses, a cool glass of water in hand.  _

_ Bora nodded, timidly. “Please sir.” He handed her the glass and Bora immediately drank from it, wincing from the sting in her lip but finished it nonetheless. “Thank you sir.”  _

_ “Beat him or I beat you, SuA.” Emilia’s hand held her throat threateningly. “My parents and I have a deal placed on you and I don’t like losing. Understand?”  _

_ Bora nodded. _

_ Emilia got close. “I said, do you understand?”  _

_ “Yes Mistress.” Bora replied.  _

_ “Quick but painful, do you understand?” Emilia whispered. “Make him remember that a child bested him in combat.”  _

_ “Understood Mistress.”  _

_ When the duel resumed, Bora relied on her adrenaline, trusting it to keep her out of harm's way and it was working. She managed to dodge a punch and block what would’ve been a deadly strike of a sword. Bora drew her Wakizashi, her stance resembling that of a panther.  _

_ “It’s such a shame I had to fight you,” Cedric tightened his grip on Hanger sword. “You are a pretty one.”  _

_ “Let’s end this.” Bora growled and like that she was off, speed almost resembling that of a freshly released arrow, Bora’s attacks were wild but precise, she sliced his Brachialis and then sidestepped out of the reach of his sword. Twisting the sword, Bora stabbed him in the leg, quickly retracting to then stab his other. _

_ Cedric dropped to the ground, withering in pain. “I yield! I yield!”  _

_ Bora let out a relieved sigh and was about to sheathe her sword when Emilia gave an order. She froze. Cedric froze. _

***PRESENT DAY***

Emilia had taken out her whip and had it wrapped around Bora’s throat.

“Why won’t you give up!” She yelled in frustration as the younger woman continued to thrash about, trying to get loose. “Fucking stay still!” 

Bora let out a gasp of pain, looking down at the small knife that was lodged into her stomach. Tears came to her eyes. Taking a deep breath, her eyes fell to the crack on the window and with shaky legs, she started to stand, one hand on the whip and the other on the knife. Withdrawing the knife, Bora let out a pained gasp as she was shoved into a wall.

“I’m gonna enjoy making your life hell!” Emilia dug her fingers into Bora’s stomach wound, making her lean forward and yell in pain. “I’m gonna keep you alive and haunt down all of your little fucking friends and force you to put a bullet in their heads.”

“Fuck. You.” Bora pushed off the wall, a hand on the other’s wrist and slammed her into the window. Again and again. One punch and Bora got out of the whip, inhaling as much air as she could before ramming Emilia into the window again, the crack getting bigger. “NOW YOOHYEON.” 

Yoohyeon released an arrow, smashing the window completely and impaled her target’s stomach. “FUCK YEAH!” She whooped before narrowly missing a fist. 

Emilia choked, her grip tight on Bora to stop her from falling. “I-“

“It hurts, doesn’t it?” Bora twisted the arrow making Emilia cough up blood and sink to her knees. “To be impaled… Now imagine how I must’ve felt whenever you would take your frustration out on me.” 

***FLASHBACK***

_ An eighteen years old Bora couldn’t help but cry out in pain as another searing hot needle pierced her flesh, her shackles rattled loudly as she tried to keep still but failed.  _

_ Bora was chained to a wall in the dungeon of Bae Castle. Her forehead rested on the brick walls as she tried to catch her breath. From the waist up, she was stripped. Sweat stained her skin as did blood. _

_ “That’s enough with the needles, thank you.” Emilia whipped her harder. “Now, shall we count again?” _

_ “One.” _

_ “Two.” _

_ “Three…” _

_ “Twen..ty f-four.”  _

_ Bora stopped letting out screams of pain, knowing that they only fed her sick pleasantries and gave her satisfaction.  _

_ “F-fifty…. two…”  _

_ Emilia grinned at her artwork. “Such a pretty canvas, don’t you think?”  _

_ “Yes mistress.” Bora nodded weakly.  _

_ Emilia let her finger trace the wounds on Bora’s back, grinning when she could feel the heat coming off her and the sharp inhale whenever she would randomly remove a needle from her body. “Scars are a beautiful thing to have, SuA. You’re going to be so beautiful….Elegant and beautiful.”  _

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading.
> 
> As always, feedback is welcomed with open arms and so are your thoughts and feelings. 
> 
> TWT: @madenayeonsmile


	3. She’s Hiding Something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m leaving to go camping on Saturday for a few days so I won’t be able to update so here’s a quick chapter.
> 
> I hope you enjoy. Let me know your feed back, thoughts and feelings in the comment section <3
> 
> My Twitter is @madenayeonsmile

Siyeon couldn’t help but stare pitifully at the small figure that was curled up into a ball on her bed. Siyeon sighed as she placed her sword on the bedside. Sadness overwhelmed her and she let out a soft exhale, sitting on the bed and pulling the body into a hug.

“You’re okay, you’re home.” Siyeon whispered, her grip tightening as her girlfriend let out another sob. “She can’t hurt you anymore. She can’t hurt anyone ever again, love.” 

Bora’s body shook as she cried, burying her face deep into Siyeon’s neck as she let out another heart shattering sob. “I’m sorry. I just-“ 

“Shh,” Siyeon kissed her forehead, pulling her in tight. “you never need to apologise to me, love. I understand. You’ve been through a lot yesterday, rest up, okay? I’ll bring your food to you.” 

“She used her fucking control on me, Signie.” Bora trembled in Siyeon’s arms uncontrollably. “She made me see what they did to her..”

“Hush, love.” Siyeon pulled Bora onto her lap and connected their lips gently. “We can talk about what happened later, I just need to get your wound cleaned, okay?” 

Bora nodded slowly, her forehead resting against Siyeon’s. They stayed like this for a while, soaking in each other’s presence. Siyeon ran her fingers through Bora’s hair, humming an unknown song and whispering about a peaceful place.

“I love you.” Siyeon whispered suddenly, tears marking her cheeks. “I love you so much.” 

“I love you too.” Bora cupped the younger woman’s face and connected her lips. “More than words can describe.” 

“Unnies!” Gahyeon bursted through the door, her katana in her hand and eyes wide with panic. “Come quick!”

Siyeon stumbled out of bed, hand wrapping around the hilt of her sword. “What’s wrong?”

“Intruders!” Gahyeon ran out their door, knowing that they were close behind, bare feet hitting off the wooden floorboards. She was dressed in shorts and a long t-shirt -most likely Dami’s- that went to her mid thighs. Her dark hair was messy as if she just woke up. 

“Where are they exactly?” Bora asked, opening the armoury door and grabbing a staff for her to lean on. “And how many are there?”

Gahyeon glanced back. “We only locates ten and we don’t know.” She went faster. “Dami and Yoohyeon went to track the other ones and Handong ran to protect Minji.” 

“Are they outside or inside?” 

“I don’t know.” Gahyeon’s grip tightened as they rounded the corner only to stop suddenly. Her eyes narrowed.

Siyeon drew her sword once she saw what made Gahyeon stop, four hooded figures stood in front of them, their tunics blue and white, the colours of the King’s private assassins. Siyeon growled. “You’re trespassing on private property, leave now or face the consequences.”

“You have something that belongs to his majesty, we are simply taking back what was stolen.” The one in the middle spoke, his voice soft and almost diplomatic. 

Bora limped forward. “And what is it that we have that belongs to his majesty?” 

“Her grace.” He answered, his hand dropping to the hilt of his sword. Fingers playing with his belt. “She must return home.” 

Gahyeon pointed her sword and growled. “We have no royalty here, you’ve been misled.”

“Shut up, Fox.” Siyeon’s grip tightened on her sword. “Bora, we have no choice..” Bora faced her girlfriend, her eyes pleading for her not to speak. She made eye-contact with the middle assassin. “I’m not sure where she is but I know she has a personal message for her father that you’d might like to hear.” 

  
“And what is that?” A small timid voice asked from the masked assassins.

“She said that when she sees him, she’s going to put his head on a pike and let the villages do whatever they want to his rotten corpse.” Siyeon spat towards them. “Now get off our property before your heads end up on one first.” 

“We already knew where the princess is, scum.” The middle one replied, unsheathing his sword. “And now you will be cut down for taking h-“ He choked on his word, an arrow sticking out of his neck, he fell to his knees.

The trespassers drew their weapons. “KILL THEM ALL.”

“DAMI! NOW!” Gahyeon yelled as she blocked an attack, before throwing herself at her teammates, knocking them to the ground just in time. Wires shot out of the walls, capturing its prey in a perfect bloody web. 

Bora groaned in pain. “Please, get off me.” 

“Sorry!” Gahyeon pushed herself onto her knees and smiled at the sight. “Told you guys it was a smart idea to set traps.”

“I thought we vetoed the idea?” Siyeon mumbled as she helped her girlfriend to her feet, pulling her gently into a hug.

“Oh, you did.” Gahyeon grinned. “I just ignored the votes, aren’t you glad I did?”

Bora opened her mouth, most likely to respond with some witty remark when she was cut off by a familiar cry. 

Gahyeon took off like a bullet.   


“ _Handong_.” 

Handong stood over a badly beaten Minji, striking anyone who got too close. Blood oozed out of several wounds on her body but the others still looked worse.

4 against 1, Handong smirked, she had worse odds. 

“Listen to me, we are not the enemies.” Handong tried to plead, eyes steely. “We haven’t done anything wrong.”

“You’re murderers and kidnappers!” A royal assassin sprang forward, sword raised and Handong blocked weakly, exhaustion slowly taking over. 

Minji inhaled sharply, shakily getting to her feet and pulling Handong behind her. A sword suddenly pointed at her throat. “Stop…” 

“Minji? What are you doing?” Handong asked, her voice thin.

Minji smiled at her softly, taking the sword from Handong’s hand. “Rest.” Handong collapsed.

“Come home.” An assassin pleaded as Minji stared at the sword in her hand, it’s been a while since she held one. “Your family misses you, your fiancé longs for y-“

Minji’s movements were fast, in a blink of an eye, she managed to slice the throats of two of the closest people, her eyes glinted as did the sword. “I think that’s enough of that”, she murmured before turning to the lone survivor. “Tell them that if they come for us again, I will personally put a bullet into their head.” 

“I was told to not return without the both of you. I will not fail my mission!” 

“Is your life really that meaningless to you, so meaningless that you’re really going to throw it away?” Minji questioned, grip tightening on her sword.

He aimed his sword as he announced. “I will not leave here without you.”

“Oh sweetie, it’s cute that you think you would be able to leave here alive.” Minji clashed swords, legs shaking but strong. She forgot how it feels to hold a blade, to fight. Each strike, block and counter-block was simple muscle memory.

Her opponent was fast but wasn’t as skilled as he should’ve been, Minji frowned; something was off. The academy would have never let someone with such low skill go on such a big mission, the Mistress would be disgusted with herself if she had let such a weak fighter go on an important mission. 

Minji inhaled suddenly, freezing as her eyes widened, groaning when he shoved her into the wall. The doors flew open and Dami appeared with a trident in hand, Yoohyeon followed closely behind with her bow and they both took aim.

“DON’T.” Minji stumbled to her feet, hand outstretched but she was too late. The assassin fell against the stone wall, the trident piercing his torso and pinning him to a wall underneath one of the windows.

Yoohyeon rushed to where Minji fell, “Are you okay?” Worry was present in her voice as she dropped to help the older woman to sit up.

Minji took in Yoohyeon, cupping her face when she saw the bloody wound on her side and busted nose. “You’re hurt.”

Yoohyeon shrugged as she chuckled. “You should see the other guy.”

“Handong? Are you okay?” Dami lightly tapped her face. “What happened to her?”

Ticking rang out clearly and a bell sounded, without thinking twice, Minji grabbed Yoohyeon by her nape and pulled her to the ground, twisting her body, acting as a shield. As if God had sent an angel, Siyeon ran through the door, and as if she was watching it in slow motion, the bomb exploded slowly. 

“ _ Quae.”  _ Siyeon laced her fingers together, containing the Greek fire. The fire roared in protest of being contained and began to expand further. Siyeon gasped, pain coursing through her veins as she tried to remain in control.

Being “gifted” wasn’t exactly common but it wasn’t rare. Whenever someone showed signs of manifesting unknown power, the king’s guard would come for you, telling your parents that if you didn’t go with them to get the proper training, the villagers would burn them. Siyeon was one of the unlucky ones. 

Siyeon could feel herself being pushed backwards, her eyes blurring. She wasn’t used to using her gifts. 

“EVERYONE GET OUT OF THE ROOM, I DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH I CAN HOLD IT FOR!” Siyeon growled, taking one step forward as Dami carried Handong. “SOMEONE GET GAHYEON.” 

As if knowing she was needed, Gahyeon ran into the recovery bay, her leg and forehead were badly bleeding. 

“ _ Aquam terrae ad te clamavi ad hanc igni.”  _ Gahyeon held one of Siyeon’s hands tightly, her other outstretched as rain appeared from seemingly nowhere, pouring onto the contained explosion, putting out the fire. 

Once the fire was gone, Siyeon fell to her knees, blood dripping from her nose as she exhaled shakily. 

“You’re okay, I got you.” Minji’s voice was something quieter than a whisper. Her body was still on top of Yoohyeon, her hand pressing her wound. “Can someone get Sunmi? Yoo needs a doctor.”

“One step ahead of you.” Bora limped into the room, Sunmi, who was wearing her pink pyjamas and sleep mask, followed her, black bags heavy under her eyes. 

Sunmi pointed at Minji. “You’re not supposed to be out of bed.” 

“Sorry, I was busy trying not to die.” Minji let out a dry chuckle. “Yoo is bleeding, we have to stop it.” 

“Place her on the bed and then everyone exits the room, okay?.” Sunmi washed her hands and sanitized them as Dami, Minji and Gahyeon lifted an unconscious puppy to a nearby bed before they placed Handong on another As the others left the room, Minji remained, her hand intertwined with Yoohyeon’s hand. 

“I’m not leaving.” 

Sunmi looked up from her preparations, eyes wide. “You can’t be in here for this Minji, not with your current state.”

“I wasn't asking for your permission, Miss Lee.” Minji’s tone left no room for disagreement. 

Sunmi pulled on her medical gloves. “If you start feeling unstable in any way, lie down and don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She hooked Yoohyeon to an IV bag.

“May I remind you that the only reason that you’re here is because it’s my will?” Minji stared at Sunmi who was cutting up Yoohyeon’s gaming tee. “Don’t forget who you’re talking to, Miss Lee. I could take it like I gave it, understood?” 

“Of course, please forgive me for being rude, my-.” Sunmi bowed but was stopped by Minji. 

“Just help her.”

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“Do you think she’ll tell her? That she’ll tell them all?” Bora asked as she washed Siyeon’s hair. 

Siyeon was quiet before she spoke. “No..”

“They’re going to find out.” Bora warned as she rinsed her hair. “It’ll ruin everything.”

“What are you suggesting for her to do, Bora?” Siyeon turned to face her in the bathtub. “For her to say, ‘oh, by the way, my dad is the one responsible for everyone’s miserable lives and I ran away because he was abusive’? It’s not that easy. They’d turn on her.”

“I never said it would be easy...” Bora’s voice was gentle. “But we’re withholding information from our family, Signie…When we win the war and she’s crowned, what do you think they’d do? Gahyeon would act irrationally, Yubin would disappear and Yoohyeon, well, we all know how broken she’d be.” 

“It’s safer for her.” 

“And what about us?” 

Siyeon’s brows knitted together. “Us?” 

“Did you really think the Resistance is going to keep us around after they win the War?” Bora asked, disbelief in her eyes. “Both of us slaughtered thousands of their family members, Siyeon. Sometimes we made them watch. We were pets for the capital, the people will have our heads on spikes before even considering to pardon us.” 

“Minji will pardon us.” Siyeon snapped. “Stop doubting everyone and everything and just trust them. Trust Minji, the person who saved you.” Siyeon stood up, getting out of the bath, putting on her robe and leaving the room. 

Bora followed, her head hung in shame as she took her place on her knees beside their bed, tears in her eyes.

“Baby…” Siyeon’s voice was gentle as she got to her knees. “Four years together and no matter I help you forget, you can’t help but do what I asked you not to do…” 

“I’m sorry.” Bora’s small frame shook as she cried.

“Love, we’re allowed to not agree on the same things, it’s okay.” Siyeon pulled her into a hug, her heart racing when Bora placed wet pleading kisses on her neck. “You have nothing to apologise for, my love.” 

Bora pulled her closer, making sure there wasn’t any space between them. “I’m sorry.” 

Siyeon couldn’t help but feel her heart break for the older woman, five years being free and yet her body was always telling her to be on her knees, that she was always supposed to submit to anyone with higher authority. She sighed, wrapping her arms tightly around her girlfriend. “I’m not your superior, I’m not in control of you. You’re free to have your own thoughts, desires and needs, my love…It breaks my heart whenever I see you like this, so small and timid when I know that you’re neither; you’re strong, brave and courageous. Beautiful and fearless. Elegant yet dangerous. Dangerous but merciful…” 

Bora’s cries grew louder. 

Siyeon picked her up with ease to sit her on the bed, and get to her knees. Taking her hands in hers, Siyeon kissed them both, rubbing soothing and calming circles on them. “Let me serve you.” 

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Minji gazed lovingly at Yoohyeon as she slept, their hands still intertwined.

“Usually it’s the other way around.” Handong spoke gently, not wanting to wake the other girl. 

Minji glanced at her. “Sad, isn’t it? We both know our feelings but refuse to act on it.” 

“But you already did, didn’t you?” Handong voiced, her eyes never leaving Minji. “You sacrificed yourself to save her.” 

“What makes you think that?” Minji croaked, her eyes teary. 

“Intercepting drugs wasn’t your specialty.” Handong explained. “The look of fear when you saw the report and how your eyes drifted to her, that was the main reason. Then it was how you said your goodbye, it was as if you were predicting your abduction.”

“Or maybe it was just bad luck?”

“You mean to tell me that you, someone who studied magic her entire life, forgot that her main strength was teleportation?” Handong countered. “That you forgot it would only take a snap of your fingers to break all of their necks or knock them unconscious?”

“That takes a lot of energy, I was too weak to do that.” Minji defended. “Twenty men against one, as soon as I dropped from the ceiling, I was tased.”

“No, you weren’t.” Handong shakily approached her, getting to her knees and bowing her head. “I need you to forgive me, your grace.” 

“What for?” Minji sat on the nearest chair, her hand outstretched for Handong to take. 

“I followed you that night.” Handong admitted, tears now rolling down her cheeks. “I followed you but didn’t intervene, I broke my promise to you. I deserve to be killed where I am.” 

“Dongie, look at me..” Minji smiled gently, leaning forward to tilt her chin up. “There’s nothing to forgive because I already knew…Your safety is much more important to me than your vow, it made me happy to know you were safe. It gave me peace.” 

“I-I don’t know if I deserve your kindness…” 

“You’ve been with me for a long time, Dongie, and out of all those years, you put me ahead of your own needs and wants.” Minji placed a soft hand on Handong’s cheek. “I never could’ve asked for a better protector which is why I’m doing this.” Minji clicked her fingers and a scroll appeared in her hand.

“Is that my contract?” Handong gulped, eyes wide. 

“It is.” Minji nodded as she opened it. “You were contracted to me and my family until the day that you or myself died but, if you would like to do it, I will release you from it.” 

“This is my only purpose in life..” Handong pointed out. “What am I-“

“You have a new purpose, dear.” Minji interrupted. “To love and fight who you want without having to be connected to me.”

***FLASHBACK***

_ Handong was only thirteen years old when she was introduced to Minji and linked to her. _

_ “Your purpose is to protect her with no hesitation and that’s it.” General Lee instructed. “Your life is to serve her majesty, is that clear?” _

_ “Yes sir!” Handong nodded, her eyes sparkling with excitement as they walked through the halls of the palace, heading to the throne room. _

_ “I’m proud of you, kid.” General Lee beamed at her, ruffling her hair. “Now let’s show them that you are the best of the best.”  _

_ Two knights opened the grand mahogany doors to an even grander room. The room was filled with natural light, three big windows stood proudly behind the four occupied golden thrones. Two pointed arches were on both sides of the room, pillars standing tall in the rather large space. _

_ Handong’s eyes fell to the thrones, the King and Queen sat in the middle and their children were by their sides. All of them sat straight, looking down at their subjects that begged for their forgiveness. The King and Prince had their swords. Besides the royal family, the throne room had a total of twelve knights, all heavily armed and people of the royal court. _

_ “Please, your majesty,” A villager pleaded, his feet and hands in shackles, his face mutilated. “I only meant to steal food for my family, we have nothing.”  _

_ “That is no reason to steal.” The Queen commented, her dark eyes glinting. “You should be ashamed.” _

_ “Please, I only ask for mercy for my family.” The man cried. “They’ll die without me.” _

_ “Then let them.” The King spat at the prisoner. “We do not tolerate thieves of any kind here.” The King grinned sadistically. “Remove both of his hands for his crimes and 50 lashes in his village square. Make sure his family is there so they can see what happens to dirty thieves.”  _

_ “Father, you’re being too harsh.” Princess Minji stood up, the room immediately bowing, the prisoner sinking further into the ground as she approached. “Would you not do the same if it meant surviving? Yes, he stole food but you have to consider all of the implications.”  _

_ “Which are?” The King grunted with disinterest.  _

_ Princess Minji wore a pink dress, a flower crown sitting on top of her wine red hair was in loose curls, her normal silver tiara was replaced with a simple wreath. Her eyes were warm. “That he clearly doesn’t have enough money to survive. Instead of punishing him so...severely, we should give him money to help him grow.”  _

_ “We aren’t giving money away.” The King shook his head and turned to one of the knights. “Do what was ordered.” _

_ “Yes, your majesty.” Sir Kang pulled the man to his feet and dragged him away, he was pleading loudly and the King let out a scream of annoyance. _

_ “REMOVE HIS TONGUE TOO!” The King bellowed, his voice echoing off the walls and sending a shiver down Handong’s spine. _

_ Princess Minji sighed sadly, her eyes never leaving the man, still hearing his pleads echo. “The north village is starving and you’re denying them their basic right.” _

_ “If we give one person money, we’d have to give everyone money!” The Queen stood up. “Now, that’s enough, Ji U. We still have plenty of people to see today.” _

_ “But-“ Minji was interrupted with a slap across her face, her cheek stung, some people gasped.  _

_ Instinctively, Handong’s hand dropped to her sword hilt. _

_ Her father stood in front of her, his face was an angry red, it was roaring in frustration. “I said enough now get back into your seat.” _

_ “I apologise, father.” Princess Minji bowed her head, hiding the tears in her eyes before taking her seat; her eyes immediately locking with Handong’s.  _

***END OF FLASHBACK***

Handong was still leaning into Minji’s soft palm as her other hand traced a scar on her forehead. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I’ve always appreciated how loyal you are, Handong.” Minji smiled sadly. “Although it is your strength, it is also your weakness. Loyalty is a dangerous thing to have, it will kill you.” Tears gathered in the corner of her eyes, crystallising like diamonds before falling. “I don’t want to be the reason why you die.” 

“I-“ A knock came from the door and Handong shot to her feet, walking quickly back to her bed and laying down. “Come in!” 

Gahyeon opened and closed the door gently, before making her way to Handong’s bed, a tray of food in her hands. “I thought you might be hungry, Unnie.”

“Thank you.” Handong sat up straight so Gahyeon could place the tray down. A blush crept onto both of their faces as they brushed hands.

“You know, you don’t have to hide expressing your affection in front of me.” Minji gave them a reassuring smile. 

Gahyeon blushed but immediately hugged the older woman tightly, burying her face into her neck and inhaling the familiar scent. “I was so worried.” 

“I faced worse odds.” Handong whispered quietly before Gahyeon connected their lips carefully as if not wanting to cause her further injury.

Gahyeon blinked, tears in her eyes. “If Minji Unnie wasn’t here, who knows what would’ve happened to you.”

“She was the one who protected me, Gahyeon-ah.” Minji locked eyes with Handong. “You have a very loyal and strong woman as your partner.”

“I-thank you, unnie.” Gahyeon bowed her head before turning to face Minji completely, holding Handong’s hand as she watched the older woman trace Yoohyeon’s features.

“You’re staring at me, Gahyeon-ah.” Minji acknowledged, her eyes never leaving Yoohyeon’s fluttering eyes. “What is it?”

“I-nothing!” 

“Come on, Gahyeon. I practically raised you as my own daughter, I know when you want to ask or tell me something so just do it.” Minji allowed herself an amused smile as she sat down on the chair again, giving the youngest all of her attention. She raised her eyebrow, a simple ‘well?’ being asked.

“Siyeon unnie wants Handong and I to check you!” Gahyeon blurted. 

“To check me?” 

Handong nodded slowly. “To see if you’ve been compromised.” 

“I see…” 

Gahyeon couldn’t help but gaze at Minji, even after everything that happened to her, Minji still exuded the same amount of power, elegance and grace she had when she first met her. The only difference was her eyes; they no longer were filled with the same glimmer of excitement and adventure. They were now filled with some kind of darkness. 

Gahyeon gulped loudly in the silence; Minji wasn’t Minji.

“Can we do the examination tomorrow?” Minji requested. “I’m rather exhausted and would prefer to have a clear mind before you both start poking on me.”

“Of course!” Handong immediately nodded, not giving Gahyeon time to reply. “I think all of us need to be well rested if we are going to be doing such an exhausting task, don’t you agree, love?”

“I guess so?” Gahyeon frowned as Handong got out of bed and started to escort her to the door. 

“Thank you for the food and visiting, love.” Handong pecked her lips, opening the door and lightly pushing her out. “I’ll see you in a few hours, okay?” 

“I-okay?” Gaheyon stammered as the door closed quickly. 

Gahyeon began to walk down the halls, lost in her thoughts until she bumped into Dami. A smile immediately on her face.

“Yubin!” She greeted happily, pulling the other into an almost suffocating hug. 

“Little fox.” Dami smiled, hugging her back tightly. “I was on my way to visit DongDong, want to come with me?” Dami kept her arms around her girlfriend’s waist. 

“I was just there.” Gahyeon answered.

Dami frowned. “What happened?” 

“They were just being weird…” Gahyeon’s eyes were cloudy. “Weird and secretive.”

“Who was? Minji?”

Gahyeon nodded. “Handong too.”

“Maybe ask her tomorrow? I’m sure it’s nothing.” Dami kissed her forehead, making Gahyeon smile.

“She’s hiding something..” Gahyeon’s smile faded.

“Who?” Dami asked, her tone serious as she made eye contact.

“Minji. I can feel it.” 

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The rain was trickling gently down the windows of the healing bay, the moonlight being one of the few sources of light that was giving them sight in the rather dark room. The red glow of the fire illuminated the wooden structures around them and casted familiar ghostly shadows on the walls. 

“I haven’t woken up next to someone in two years.” A soft voice chuckled quietly next to Minji, making her immediately look over. “Even though you’re in a chair.” 

“You should go back to sleep, Yoo.” Minji had a small smile on her face. “It’s 5AM so sleep more, okay?”

Yoohyeon began to make room on the bed before tapping the spot beside her. “Join me.”

“Huh?” 

“If we’re gonna sleep, you’re going to share my bed.” Yoohyeon gestured for her to get in. “We can cuddle like the old days.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea, puppy..” Minji hesitated only to cave a few seconds later when Yoohyeon pouted. Getting into the bed, both women felt their heart race and pound against their ribs. If they didn’t know the cause, they would’ve been glad to already be in a recovery bay. But they did know. Both were aware of exactly what caused their butterflies and sudden blushing.

Yoohyeon laid on her side, as did Minji, so they could face each other. Yoohyeon felt a sudden pinch in her stomach that was either due to Minji being, once again, right beside her or the stitches she just got. She decided on the former.

“I don’t know if I said this already, but, I’m really glad that you’re back.” Yoohyeon confessed quietly.

“I missed you too, puppy.” Minji entwined their hands shyly and brought it to her lips, kissing Yoohyeon’s hand softly. “I’m glad to be back.” 

“Minji..”

“Hm?” 

“Will you ever talk about the thing that happened before you left? Between us?” Yoohyeon played with Minji’s fingers nervously, the soft warm skin providing some comfort.

“I meant what I said, Yoohyeon.” Minji confessed, her voice barely above a whisper. “All of it.”

They didn’t want to meet each other’s eyes, embarrassed at how obvious their feelings were. Yoohyeon closed her eyes, basking in the comforting smell of freshly cut lemons whereas Minji hummed in delight as the familiar smell of baby powder. 

Yoohyeon swallowed nervously. “So, you love me?” Yoohyeon croaked, her voice strained with tears. 

“Of course I do, puppy.” Minji pushed herself onto her elbow, hovering over Yoohyeon. Her eyes misted over. “Why are you crying, love?” She rested her forehead on Yoohyeon’s, trying her best to comfort her.

“Two years. Two years, Minji. You could’ve escaped and you chose not to…” Her tears ran freely. “I want to know why.. Why would you allow yourself to be tortured? Why would you risk your life like that?” 

“The past will only harm you, puppy, it’ll harm you more than it already does.” Minji’s voice was tight as she cupped the younger woman’s face. “You hate thinking about your life in your village, you hated telling me about why they almost killed you and being trapped forever in those moments when you sleep, so please, don’t ask me why I sacrificed myself when you already know the reason why, that you already know that when the time comes, I would do it again if it meant saving you.” 

“Minji…” Yoohyeon whispered shakily.

Minji was too close, their lips just inches away touching, wisps of her hair tickled Yoohyeon’s face. Neither one wanted to move. 

“Can I…” Yoohyeon’s voice faltered as she met Minji’s eyes.

“Can you…?” Minji’s voice was small and shaky. 

“Can I kiss you?” Yoohyeon’s voice was quiet but she spoke clearly. She watched as Minji’s mouth formed a perfect ‘o’and her eyes widened in surprise. Then she smiled and nodded. 

Yoohyeon leaned forward, capturing Minji’s lips in a gentle yet brief kiss. Yoohyeon moved away first, opening her eyes to see Minji’s expression.

“I-“ 

Minji connected their lips again, this time it was more fervent. This time it was filled with more want and need, and, as if they had done it before a thousand times, they knew exactly what to do. 

Minji moved away, breathless. Her cheeks pink. “Le-let’s sleep, okay? It’s gonna be a long day tomorrow.” She laid down and turned to her side, facing away from Yoohyeon to hide her shy smile. 

“Good night, bunny.” Yoohyeon smiled, laying down on her side, blushing furiously as she tried to calm her racing heart. 

_ ‘I can’t believe I did that.’  _ Yoohyeon thought, unable to keep the smile of her lips. 

Suddenly, there was a shift on the bed and Minji placed a gentle hand on her waist at a respectful place and buried her face in Yoohyeon’s neck.

“Good night, puppy.”

Yoohyeon laid awake for a while, unable to sleep from the butterflies in her stomach. ‘ _ I can’t believe I did that.’ _ Yoohyeon’s mind began to race until her heart felt like it suddenly stopped. 

“Fuck.” Yoohyeon gulped. “Bora is going to kill me.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  



	4. Old Memories.

**FLASHBACK**

_ A fifteen years old Gahyeon screamed as she was pulled from her bed late at night, her face was white with fear as her mother held her wrist tightly, ushering her towards the stables. Loud voices chanting in the distance. _

  
  


_ “Hurry Gahyeon.” Her mother ordered as the angry shouts sounded from outside. “The knights of Polaris have arrived. You must leave.” Gahyeon’s mother picked up the nearest bag and cloak, gesturing for her daughter to put it on. _

  
  


_ “Where’s father?” Gahyeon cried out, tears streaming down her face as her mother hurriedly threw things in a bag.  _

  
  


_ “You must go to the east bell tower, Gahyeon.” Her mother instructed, hurriedly throwing food into the bag. _

  
  


_ The mob chanted. “BRING OUT THE DEMON CHILD! BRING OUT THE DEMON CHILD!”  _

  
  


_ “Mother!” Gahyeon’s cry was panicked and uncertain. “What’s going on? What’s happening?” _

  
  


_ Her mother untied Lucy, a Camarillo white horse, and began to quickly put on the saddle, her hands shook as the undeniable sound of glass shattering rang loudly. The chants were getting louder. She gave Gahyeon the backpack and lifted her onto the horse, giving Gahyeon the reins.  _

  
  


_ “Listen to me, Gahyeon-ah, you must go east to where the Tree of Language is. A woman is waiting there for you, you can trust her, she’ll take care of you, okay?” Gahyeon’s mother led the horse from the stable. “Ride strong, my daughter. Your father and I will see you soon.” _

  
  


_ “Promise?” Gahyeon whined, her eyes red with tears as she heard the voices shout. _

  
  


_ Gahyeon’s mother gave her daughter a comforting smile. “Run Lucy. Take care of her.”  _

  
  


_ Lucy neighed and took off like the wind, galloping towards freedom and away from the yells of the Polaris Knights. Gahyeon screamed in protest, ordering Lucy to stop but she didn’t, she kept pushing forward, determined to protect Gahyeon. _

_ “BRING ME THE CHILD!” _

_ Four horses galloped after her as Lucy ran to the woods, splashing through the stream to take a short cut. Gahyeon glanced back and let out a heart shattering sob when she saw the dark smoke drift up to the night’s sky, her family home lit up like a beacon. _

_ Branches stuck out from the trees, slicing her as Lucy forced her way through, neighing angrily at the woods. _

_ “Don’t lose her in the woods, is that understood?”  _

_ “YES SIR.”  _

_ For what seemed like hours, Gahyeon held tightly onto Lucy’s reigns, urging her to go faster as the guards got closer.  _

***PRESENT DAY***

“What is it I need to do again?” Minji asked as she started to remove her dress shirt.

All seven girls stood in what used to be the throne hall, two thrones still stood proudly at the top of the room on a platform. Vines clinged to the thrones, swirled the pillars and overwhelmed the stained glass window. 

“UNNIE!”Gahyeon eyes widened before she covered them and looked away in shock. “You don’t need to remove your top for this, it’s a simple blood test.” 

“But I don’t want blood on my favourite dinner shirt, it’ll be ruined if blood gets on it.” Minji explained.

Gahyeon turned around to see Handong take the piece of clothing from Minji, tilting her head slightly as if bowing. Gahyeon frowned.

“It won’t be a fight, Minji.” Dami frowned at her. “The blood will tell what we need to know.”

Minji bit her lip, her hands playing with the hilt of her sword, something she only did when she was nervous. “And what do you guys need to know?” 

“You got this, bunny!” Yoohyeon still had her eyes covered but everyone was still able to make out the blush on her cheeks. 

Minji smiled shyly. “Thank you, puppy.”

Siyeon observed the scene with a smirk before clapping her hands to gain their attention. “Minji, for the mental examination, we need you to be cold otherwise it won’t work..”

“And what do you suppose I do, hm?” Minji seemed to make her way unknowingly to the thrones, sitting down on one, her hands playing with one of the carved golden lions. “Would you like me to request a ice bath?” 

Handong stood beside her, hand clasped around her sword as if someone was going to attack.

“We already have one being brought.” Bora smirked when Minji visibly shivered.

Dami couldn’t help but stare at Minji. Her blonde hair cascaded down her back perfectly, and her posture. Her posture was perfect as if she was born to be what the resistance needed; a natural leader. But something wasn’t right, Dami could feel it. The way Minji had a natural grace and authority to her every movement, elegance and power radiated off of her, it wasn’t something you just had, it was forced into you by years of being surrounded with royals, Dami’s hand uncontrollably reached for her sword. 

“Dami?” Minji called for her, snapping her out of her thoughts. 

Dami stood up, holding her hands behind her back. “Yes, unnie?”

“I was asking if you knew what happened to the other royal assassins last night.” Minji replied. “We only have five and ¾ of one.” 

“Maybe that’s all they sent?” Dami replied.

Minji shook her head. “Fa-I mean the King would never six assassins, especially the with their weak set of skills. There had to be more.”

“We didn’t see anyone else.” Yoohyeon looked up at Minji, her eyes full of adoration. “None of the outer alarms were triggered.” 

“Only because they were are the professionals.” Minji bit her lip, and stood up, Handong immediately putting on her shirt before taking a step back. “The King usually sends his assassins in two waves, the first wave is to assess the enemy and to see who makes it out alive so they can ‘graduate’ and then the second wave is those who have years of experience; the best of the best.” 

Siyeon’s eyes widened. “She’s coming, isn’t she?” 

“If the second wave fails then yes, she’ll come.” Minji confirmed and began to walk. “We need to move location.” 

“To where?” Siyeon immediately followed, the others behind her.

“I can call in a few people but I can’t make any promises.” Bora held Siyeon’s hand, worry in her eyes. 

Minji began to climb the stairs. “That won’t be necessary, I’ll deal with it.” 

“Minji, don’t involve them. They’ll backstab you.” Siyeon grabbed her wrist, making her face her. “Remember what happened when we saved Gahyeon from them?” 

Minji met the youngest eyes, she still remembers how frightened they were, how she shivered and cried when she was surrounded. They were filthy animals.

“If they pull a stunt like that again,” Minji’s eyes were dark, she pulled her wrist away as she promised, “I’ll personally make them suffer in ways they never experienced.”

“You’re not a torturer, Minji.” Gahyeon snorted, rolling her eyes.

“No, I’m not.” Minji agreed, her voice was emotionless as she spoke. “But I am my father’s daughter and that means I can do worse than any ordinary torturer.” Minji stalked away but was followed by Bora, Siyeon and Handong, whispering to each other before the door to the study open and closed, leaving the three youngest alone in the eerie silence.

“Was it just me or did anyone else find that super hot?” Yoohyeon asked, fanning her face to get rid of her reddening cheeks.

“Super hot? Try chilling or creepy.” Gahyeon shivered in her loose shirt and plum leather armoured tunic. Her hair in a single braid that went down her back. 

Dami nodded in agreement. “I wonder what she meant that her father is worse than any torturer.” Dami wore a black leather tunic and had her short hair swooped back out of her way so it wouldn’t interfere with her throwing. 

“Beats me.” Yoohyeon shrugged, her green tunic fitting her figure perfectly. Her silver hair tied in a high ponytail which made her features more striking. She had her quiver on her, ready for action. She was limping slightly from her fight, her left eye bruising. “I just know she’s hot.” A proud smirk on her face.

Gahyeon narrowed her eyes. “What did you do?”

“Promise you won’t tell Bora?” 

“Sure.”

“I can’t do that.” Dami folded her arms. “She gets anything she wants out of me, I have zero will with her.”

“I kissed Minji unnie!” Yoohyeon exclaimed excitedly, jumping up and down like a newborn puppy. “She kissed me back.”

“When?” Gahyeon was shocked. Never in a million years did she believe Yoohyeon would actually do something about her crush.

“Last night!” Yoohyeon replied. “I asked if I could kiss her and she kissed me!”

“How was it?” Dami smiled, knowing how long her eldest friend had longed for that kiss. She was proud. 

Yoohyeon bit her lip, remember how Minji’s lips fitted perfectly with hers, how each kiss got more and more heated. Yoohyeon grinned, the familiar taste of strawberries on her lips. 

“It was perfect.” Yoohyeon admitted shyly, red creeping onto her cheeks. “It was so gentle but…”

“But forceful?” Dami suggested.

Gahyeon wiggled her eyebrows. “Gentle but hot? You want more of Miss Minji, don’t you?”

Yoohyeon leaned against the wall, letting herself remember how Minji kissed her and how her hands drifted. She smiled. “She’s perfect.” 

**MINJI’S STUDY**

Minji entered the room and immediately made her way towards the chair behind the desk, unbuckling her belt and placing her sword beside her. Bora, Siyeon and Handong stood, waiting for her to speak.

“Siyeon, tell me how has business been with RV.” Minji leaned on her hands, giving her full attention to her.

Siyeon took a step forward. “Everything has been pretty much normal, trades have been the same; information for weapons.”

“They’ve been trying to locate Yerim, your majesty.” Handong took a step forward. “She went missing a few weeks ago.”

Minji hummed in thought. “Where was she last seen?”

“The tavern in Raidía.” Handong answered. “Miss Joohyun said that she was supposed to be meeting with someone with the Resistance but never returned.”

“Who was she supposed to meet?” Minji asked as she took a piece of parchment and began to write. 

Bora cleared her throat. “Me.”

Minji’s head snapped up quickly, her eyes dark. “Start talking.”

“I was on my way there but I got sidetracked.” Bora stumbled over her words, fear shooting through her when Minji stopped smiling. “There were guards at the gates to the city, I couldn’t get in without someone spotting me so I had to abandon Jackson and go to the woods. By the time I got there, Yerim was gone and the church was on fire...I decided to help the villagers, now I see it was just a ploy to get Yerim out of there.” 

“Raidía is a dangerous place.” Minji leaned back on her chair, her eyes on Bora who was visibly tense. “You did the right thing with choosing helping the villagers and not going after her, you didn’t know the situation and I’m glad you were smart about the situation.”

Bora relaxed and bowed her head. “Thank you, your grace.”

“If you guys can leave and send Yoohyeon in, I’ll be very grateful.” Minji dismisses them without glancing up from her writing.

Siyeon remained. “I’m worried about you.”

“You don’t need to.” 

“You were gone for two years, Minji. None of us know what happened to you in that time.” Siyeon sat down, her blue armour tunic hung open to show her baggy white shirt tucked into her leather trousers. Her blonde hair flowed down her back.. Even without effort, she was breathtaking.

Minji sat down her pen and clasped her hands together, leaning forward to be closer. “All you need to know that it was Hell but I would do it again and again to protect every one of our girls.”

“Ours?” 

“Of course they’re ours.” Minji spun her pen. “We practically raised them, I consider them my family. I consider you my family.” 

“And doesn’t your family deserve to know who you are?” Siyeon spoke quietly as Minji met her eyes. “They deserve to know who they are fighting for and who is going to take over when we succeed.”

“You know we can’t do that.”

“Can’t or won’t?” Siyeon challenged. 

Minji stared, her glare deadly. “I just got back from a hellish two years, Lee Siyeon. Let me have time to get to know them again and once I have their trust, then I’ll tell them.”

“What did he do to you, Minji?” Siyeon asked. “You aren’t the same person you were before.”

“If you experienced just a  _ fraction  _ of the things I went through, you’d understand why.” 

“Help me understand, I want to help y-“

A knock and then Yoohyeon’s head appeared. Her cheeks red.

“I-you wanted to see me?” Yoohyeon squeaked.

Minji stood up, Siyeon followed her. “Please, come in, puppy. Siyeon was just leaving.”

“I’ll keep you updated.” Siyeon forced her smile as she left, closing the door behind her. 

**HANDONG’S DORMITORY**

Gahyeon sat on Handong’s lap, the older girl cradled her close to her chest as she slept.

Dami entered quietly. “How is she?” 

“She’s strong but I think Minji being back has affected her more than she has let us believe.” Handong met Dami’s eyes. “You know how she took it the hardest when Minji was taken.”

Dami gently sat beside her girlfriends, not wanting to waken Gahyeon. “She trained non-stop after her disappearance.”

“She wanted to make her proud.” Handong chuckled softly. 

Dami met Handong’s eyes. “You were affected by Minji’s disappearance too, I never saw you so...upset.”

“I wasn’t there to protect her.” Handong looked away, hugging Gahyeon closer. “I would’ve acted the same way if it was anyone else.”

“You can’t keep beating yourself up because you weren’t able to protect her, Dongie.” Dami tilted her chin so their eyes would meet. “None of us could’ve forseen what happened. It was bad intel, that’s it.”

Handong connected their lips in a desperate manner, dying to feel something that wasn’t guilt. 

“I love you.” 

“I love you too.”

“If you guys are about to make out, I hope you at least spared me a thought.” Gahyeon yawned, opening her eyes slowly. 

Handong leant down to kiss her, making the youngest hum in delight before Dami began kissing her neck, making her shudder.

“What did I do to make this happen and how can I do it again?” Gahyeon exhaled, smiling into the kiss.

Handong grinned. “You were your normal cute self, Gahyeonie.”

“We’re so proud of you.” Dami was leaving her breathless. “You did such a good job on your mission, baby. We thought you deserved an award.” 

Gahyeon blushes, her entire body heating up as if someone lit a fire next to her. She smirked. “Let’s see if you oldies can keep up, hm?”

**MINJI’S STUDY**

Minji was breathless. Yoohyeon was making her into putty as she kissed her neck, attacking the weak point on her collarbone with such passion that it made Minji glad she was sitting down.

“You’re so good at that.” Minji inhaled sharply, moaning when Yoohyeon gently nipped her, she pulled the younger woman closer, making her straddle her. 

Yoohyeon smirked as she backed off, gently kissing her lips over and over. “Practice makes perfect, unnie.” 

“As much as I’m enjoying this,” Minji placed a firm hand on Yoohyeon’s chest, stopping her. “I really do need to talk to you about something.”

Yoohyeon nodded, and sat on the desk, leaving a respectable amount of distance between the two. “What is it?” 

“How familiar are you with Kim Taeyeon?” Minji’s breathing was uneven as she was still trying to recover. 

“She’s my aunt.” Yoohyeon folded her arms, all friendliness about her gone. Her eyes went dark. “Unfortunately, I’m very familiar with that bitch, why?”

“She’s going to be going to the Capitol next week for an open conference and anyone can get in.” Minji scratched the armrests as she explained. “Where Emily was a supply of money and...pleasure for the Capitol, Taeyeon has the villages brainwashed into believing she’s the voice of the people.”

  
  


“How did anyone fall for her act?” Yoohyeon gritted her teeth in anger.

  
  


“Because it didn’t start off as an act, puppy. Unlike the other important supporters of the Capitol and the Royal Family, Taeyeon is the most reasonable.” Minji smiled softly. “She was like an older sister to me which is why, under any circumstances, do not kill her.”

  
  


“And she’s my aunt, Minji. So trust me when I say whatever you think or believe she’s like, she’s not.” Yoohyeon’s eyes were glassy. “She’s not to be trusted, okay? Please trust me…” 

Minji’s eyes softened as she gestured for Yoohyeon to sit on her lap. Once Yoohyeon sat down, Minji hugged her. “You’re in pain over what she did, aren’t you?” Minji mumbled whilst Yoohyeon buried her face into the older woman’s neck. “I’m sorry I wasn’t in the capitol during your visit with her, if I was, nothing would’ve happened to you.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“But it was my job to ensure everyone in Polaris is safe and being treated equally, with no one taking advantage of those less fortunate.” Minj hugged tighter. “I failed and I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, bunny.” Yoohyeon’s voice was quiet. “It’s the royal family’s fault. Those bastards sitting on their gold thrones, too busy partying to realise that their so-called knights were fucking an underaged girl.”

Minji winced at the roughness of the younger woman’s words, guilt tightened her throat, making it hard for her to look at the younger woman. “Have you ever met the royal family?” 

“Once.” Yoohyeon pursed her lips. “It was at a ball, a masquerade to be specific. I remember it like it was yesterday because of how terrified I was when everything happened.”

“When what happened?” Minji's eyes were watery as if she knew the truth. 

“She was my first non-forced kiss.” Yoohyeon’s voice drifted as she thought about the Princess, her eyes wandered to Minji’s lips before turning dark with anger. “And the king-“

**FLASHBACK**

_ The annual masquerade was, like always, a drunken disaster. The usual marble great hall was draped in diamonds and gold, everyone who attended brought out their most expensive clothing to show their wealth. No one could compare to the Royal Family though. _

_ The King wore a golden silk suit which was made by one of the most coveted designers in all of Polaris; the Spider. His mask was a lion.  _

_ Jewels of all kinds were placed on rings, necklaces, earring and tiaras for the Queen, her golden dress looked like it was blessed by the sunlight’s golden rays. Her mask was a lioness. _

_ The Prince wore a baby blue suit, his golden sword strapped to his side. A spider embroidered on his collar. His mask was a snake. _

_ The princess wore a simple black and white striped dress paired with a black laced butterfly tie, her wine hair loosely curled. Her mask was a rabbit.  _

_ Yoohyeon couldn’t help but stare. _

_ “This way, Yoohyeon.” Taeyeon led her towards the four occupied thrones. “Your majesties, it’s so good to see you again.”  _

_ “Your graces.” Yoohyeon bowed, tilting her head to show respect before standing behind Taeyeon shyly.  _

_ “Why are you wearing a suit, dear?” The Queen gestured to their surroundings. “It’s a party, not a business meeting.”  _

_ Yoohyeon was thankful her dog mask covered her reddening cheeks.  _

_ “She’s meeting with clients during the event.” Taeyeon answered for her. “This is my niece, your highness, her name is Rachel. She’s one of the best.” _

_ Yoohyeon’s eyes drifted to the princess and followed her line of sight to a young looking Knight wearing a cat mask, her hands on the hilt of the sword. She was staring at her.  _

_ “That’s my protector.” A melodic soft voice told her, making the taller girl jump with surprise. An amused smile touched the princess’s lips. “I apologise for startling you, dear. I didn’t know you were easily frightened.” _

_ “I-please don’t apologise, your majesty.” Yoohyeon bowed. “I should’ve been more aware of my surroundings.”  _

_ The princess smiled and Yoohyeon felt her heart skip a couple of beats, wanting to see her smile again and again.  _

_ “Would you like to dance, your grace?” Yoohyeon offered her hand, bowing to show her respect.  _

_ The princess took her hand gently. “I would love to.”  _

**PRESENT DAY**

Minji was staring at Yoohyeon with a mixture of fear and nervousness. She kept her hand on the hilt of her dagger.

“The Masquerade? Are you sure?” Minji stumbled over her words, demanding an answer that she already knew.

“I can never forget it.” Yoohyeon’s eyes were distant again. “I can never forget how the King would have done that to his daughter...I’ll never forget how she screamed.”

Minji closed her eyes, tears silently rolling down her cheeks. Yoohyeon was there. Yoohyeon saw what happened to her. She saw what the royal family was doing to keep in power. 

**FLASHBACK**

_ Two hours into the Masquerade, the King called for a toast in the Great Hall, calling his family to the center of the room where a single throne sat, buckles on the arms and legs of the chair. A stone table stood beside it and on it were several sharp objects that Yoohyeon wasn’t quite familiar with but still had a strong idea what it was for. _

_ “We’d like to thank everyone who has come here to offer their thanks to the kingdom of Polaris!” The King began, a grin on his face as he gestured around him. “We are the Gods and Goddesses of our people and land! We are the Monarchy that saved Polaris from the annihilation of the treacherous scum Steele! A man not fit to rule!” The audience cheered loudly. _

_ Bartrum Steele or otherwise known as the Mad King slaughtered thousands of innocent immigrants and gifted ones. He was known to consume some of the gifted in hopes of gaining their abilities.  _

_ Yoohyeon shivered as she refocused her attention, eyes going wide as she saw the princess being escorted to the chair and strapped into it.  _

_ What was happening? _

_ “Although being my daughter, the Princess is the last breathing heir of Steele’s bloodline.” The Queen announced, shocking the crowd. “Her blood is the cure of the Spider Curse. Her life is worth more than everyone in this room. For she, our daughter, is our saviour!”  _

_ Taeyeon took her hand and began pulling her towards the exit, her eyes red as if she was crying and her expression grim. _

_ “What are they doing to her, Unnie?” Yoohyeon asked as she looked behind her, catching a glimpse of the Queen knife unsheathing a dagger and taking off her mask.  _

_ Taeyeon kept walking, pushing Yoohyeon in front of her and out the door when the sound of a bloodcurdling scream erupted from the room. “Don’t intervene, Yoohyeon.” _

_ “But Unnie-“ _

_ “Don’t intervene or you’ll get a worse punishment.” Taeyeon sniffled. “Keep walking.”  _

**PRESENT DAY.**

“You didn’t see what happened to her?” Minji asked, no longer looking at Yoohyeon.

Yoohyeon shook her head. “No. Taeyeon made me leave before anything happened...but the scream the princess made...it broke my heart.”

“Mission next week.” Minji spoke in a hushed voice, turning her back on Yoohyeon. “That’s all, you’re dismissed.”

“Minji-“

“I said that you’re dismissed, puppy.” Minji didn’t glance at her. “I need to think.”

The sound of footsteps being accompanied by the door opening and closing let Minji slump her shoulders, allowing her to let out a choked sob and cover her face with anger. 

‘ _ I’m not strong enough to do this.’  _ Minji thought as she put her face down on the desk. ‘ _ I can’t save them.’ _

The door opened.

“We need to talk.” 

Minji closed her eyes, letting out a soft breath before meeting Bora’s intense gaze. She knew this was coming.

“I know.” 

**FLASHBACK**

_ “You shouldn’t let your Mistress treat you like this, little bird.” Minji was helping Bora clean the wounds on her back, her heart breaking whenever sounds of anguish would spring from Bora’s lips. “I’ll make sure she’s punished for doing this to you.” _

_ Bora laid on her stomach in the Princess’s bed chamber, silk sheets now stained with her blood as Minji carefully tried to heal her.  _

_ It was an hour after sunset when Handong had stumbled into her chamber as she was getting her nightly bath, Bora clinged loosely to Handong, struggling to keep herself up. Bora’s skin was sickly pale and sweaty, with every step she let out an anguished cry.  _

_ The Princess was furious. _

_ “Please don’t.” Bora’s pleas were quiet, she was trying her best to not scream in pain. “She will be angry with you.” _

_ “She cannot lay a hand on me, love.” Minji closed her eyes as she sliced her palm, wincing slightly as she let the blood drop onto the open wounds.  _

_ Bora inhaled sharply, tears streamed down her cheeks as her fists held the sheets tighter as she felt her skin nip and pull. “It hurts, Minji. Please make it stop.” _

_ “Just a few more seconds and you’ll be okay, I promise.”  _

_ The wounds on Bora’s back pulled the open gashes shut, knitting itself back together. Bora let out a shaky exhale, her entire body visibly relaxing as she began to breathe slowly.  _

_ Minji laid on her back beside her friend, observing how even though the younger woman had her eyes closed, she was unearthly beautiful. Her red lips were slightly pouted as she concentrated on breathing, her eyes closed as she tried to focus. They laid in the silence, both focused on Bora’s now calm breathing. _

  
  


_ “Are you going to tell me why she did this to you?” Minji asked, her eyes never leaving Bora’s face, watching how the latter sighed in displeasure before opening her eyes to meet Minji’s gaze. _

_ Bora shook her head as she crawled closer to Minji, pushing herself up onto her hands to hover over the Princess. Her gaze darkening as her eyes fell to her inviting lips. _

_ “Have I told you about how Divine you are?” Bora ran her nose against Minji’s neck, grinning slightly when she heard and felt the hitch of the Princess’ s sudden inhale. “How the Deities must’ve crafted you from their own flesh?”  _

_ Minji shuddered as Bora placed wet opened mouth kisses on her neck, abusing her pulse point. “Bora-“ Minji moaned and pulled her closer. _

_ “You’re always so tense, your highness.” Bora kissed down the front of Minji’s neck, loving how Minji moaned her name. “Won’t you allow me to help you undress?”  _

_ “Bora,” Minji let out a whine when Bora’s hands began to unbutton her white laced nightdress, soft kisses placed on newly revealed patches of skin. _

_ Bora couldn’t help but let her pointer finger roam down the middle of Minji’s body, admiring the smooth feeling of her unscarred skin. “You’re so perfect.” Bora’s leg slipped between Minji’s and pressed into her core. Minji immediately began to grind down. _

_ Bora held her hips, stopping her immediately. “I’m serving you.” _

_ “Bora-“ Minji pulled her closer. “I-I want to feel you, please, please Bora…let me.” _

_ “You are my Princess. My Queen.” Bora’s mouth wrapped around one of Minji’s nipples,  _

_ “Your highness must let me take care of her otherwise she won’t feel good.” Bora switched to her other nipples, swirling her tongue around the areoles. “Please let me make you feel good .”  _

_ Minji opened her legs to pull Bora closer, making sure there was no space left. “We don’t have to do this, you don’t have to do this…”  _

_ Bora slowly pulled down Minji’s underwear, her eyes never leaving the Princess’s loving gaze. “It’s my honour to serve you, my Princess.” Bora pressed wordless promises onto Minji’s skin before taking the precious bundle of nerves into her mouth and sucking. “My Queen.” _

_ Minji instinctively buckled her hips, grinding on Bora’s mouth. “F-fuck!” Minji could feel herself getting closer to the edge, the coil of pleasure tightening again and again, her seventh heaven was closing in on her. Pleasure wrapping its arms around her, pulling her into its embrace. _

_ Minji let her orgasm take over her completely, she allowed Bora to pin her hips to the bed as she continued to eat her out, refusing to let her move away.  _

_ “S-stop.” Minji flushed with the overstimulation, trying her best to crawl away, her eyes teary. “Bo-Bora, I-I command you to stop.” _

_ Bora immediately detached herself from Minji’s clit, her lips wet. “Whatever her highness commands me, I shall do.” _

_ “Lay on your back.” Minji’s voice was quiet as she gracefully got off the bed. Her nightdress hung loosely on her shoulders, revealing her perfect skin. She gazed at a topless Bora which could only be described as a look of adoration. Minji sat on the chair that was placed in front of the bed.  _

_ The glow of the fireplace was the only light source besides the moon. The dark glow of the fireplace made Bora look all the more seductive. Her dark hair made her features more sharp, her lips more plump and welcoming, still wet from earlier.  _

_ Bora wore no dress shirt but a black piece of fabric that covered her breasts. The only clothing she had was her black leather trousers that were paired and tucked into black leather boots.  _

_ “Let me see you, Bora.” Minji gestured for Bora to come to her. “I want to see every inch of you.” _

_ “Your majesty-“  _

_ Minji held up her hand in order for Bora to place her chin on it and Bora obeyed. _

_ “That’s a good girl.” Minji smiled as Bora continued to nuzzle her hand affectionately. Minji’s eyes fell to the scars on Bora’s skin, ones both old and new. Minji’s smile disappeared. Such beauty is ruined because of someone’s sadistic pleasure.  _

**PRESENT DAY**

“I would never, in my life, betray any of you.” Minji groaned in pain as Bora landed another punch on Minji’s stomach.

“STOP LYING!” Bora screamed, throwing the eldest girl onto the floor. “I SAW IT! I SAW EVERYTHING!” 

“What the fuck is going on out here?” Siyeon exited the dining room and walked into the hallway, quickly being followed with the others. “BORA! STOP!” 

Siyeon and Handong went to interfere but Minji held up her hand, signalling for them to stop. Minji’s lip was busted as was her nose, her eye beginning to bruise.

Minji refused to fight her. No matter how many times Bora punched, kicked and threw her, she kept her hands by her side, allowing herself to be hit.

“Bora, please tell me what I did.” Minji was weakly pulled to her feet before being thrown into the wall. “I can’t reassure you if I don’t know what I did.”

“YOU DIDN'T KILL HER, DID YOU?” Another punch. “YOU KEPT HER ALIVE AND TORTURED HER.” Another punch. “YOU TORTURED YOURSELF.”

“What is she talking about?” Dami frowned as she watched Bora straddle Minji and pin her to the ground. 

Gahyeon’s eyes widened with realisation. “Emily got into her head.” 

“What?” Minji gasped for air when Bora’s hands wrapped around her throat, successfully cutting off her air supply. 

Siyeon tackled her girlfriend off of Minji, pinning her hands above her head.

“BORA, STOP.” Siyeon was having trouble restraining her as she thrashed about. “Stay still!” 

Bora let out a cry of pain that made Minji pull Siyeon away from her, everyone’s eyes were watery.

Minji helped Bora to her feet and gently pushed her towards the wall, hugging her as the younger girl continued to sob. “I’m here, okay? I’m here.”

“You left me!” Bora sobbed into Minji’s neck. “You promised you’d never leave me but you did.” Bora weakly began to hit her chest. 

Minji caught one of the offending hands and pulled it to her chest, placing her hand over her beating heart. “I’m here. I’m alive.”

“You’re not my Minji.” Bora hissed, trying to rip her hand away. “You’re not my Princess.” 

Siyeon’s eyes widened and she immediately looked to Handong who watched as Dami’s hand clenched into a fist.

“MINJI!” 

Minji turned around in time to see Dami charging towards her. 


	5. The Rebellion Betrayed Your Parents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, 
> 
> Hopefully this chapter clears somethings up that were confusing people in the previous chapter. I hope you all like this and, as always, please leave a comment and tell me your thoughts and feedback; it's very deeply appreciated. 
> 
> my twitter: @madenayeonsmile

**PRESENT DAY**

Minji was knocked to the ground by Dami, she cried out in pain when she landed on her back. 

“DAMI! STOP!” Handong pulled Dami away, pushing her against the wall in order to stop her from hurting Minji. 

Dami tried to fight back but she was being restrained by both Handong and Siyeon, they were much stronger than her. 

“Let me GO!” Dami tried to fight back, trying her best to worm her way out of their grasp. “SHE’S THE ONE YOU SHOULD BE RESTRAINING! SHE’S A PRINCESS!” 

Footsteps approached hurriedly and a tired looking Yoohyeon rounded the corner, her sword drawn. “WHAT’S GOING ON?” She froze, her eyes drifting from a beat up Minji on the ground to a sobbing Bora and a restrained Dami. Confusion was clear on her face. 

“What is going on?” Yoohyeon repeated, her voice softer as she met Dami’s eyes. 

“Minji is a princess!” Dami fell to her knees, finally getting out of the two older girls' grasp. “She is the reason why everyone’s life is fucked!” 

Yoohyeon met Minji’s eyes, her hand tightening around the hilt of her sword, her mouth pulling downwards. “Princess JiU?” 

Bora got to her knees, facing Minji, her eyes glassy from her tears. “I have to do this.” 

“What?” Minji tilted her head in confusion. 

“I’m sorry.” Bora sniffed, crawling closer to Minji, who had gotten to her knees and now was holding her ribs in pain. 

Minji locked eyes with Yoohyeon, begging for her to allow her to explain but the younger woman looked away, her eyes flashed with hurt. Minji gasped loudly, choking on a groan as her eyes widened as she gasped in pain. Her eyes went to her stomach where a familiar slim hand was wrapped around a gold handled dagger that was embedded into her gut. Her eyes began to blur as she slumped forward, falling into Bora who had her arms opened, waiting for her as if she was an angel ready to collect her soul, to take her to a better place. 

“BORA, WHAT DID YOU DO?” Siyeon fell to her knees, pressing her hands on Minji’s wound as the older woman's grip on the world around her lessened. “SOMEONE GET SUNMI!” 

* * *

**TWO HOURS LATER**

“You knew.” Dami stared at Handong with tears in her eyes. “You knew who she was this entire time, how?” 

“You’re not going to like my answer, Yubin.” Handong met her girlfriend’s eyes with hesitation. "You're not thinking clearly, your emotions are going to blind you." 

“Tell me, Handong!” The unforgiving harshness in Dami’s voice made Handong flinch before it cracked with feeling. "I need to know... _Please_.." 

Handong swallowed nervously as she met her lover's usually soft eyes, her voice just slightly above a whisper. “I’m the protector of Minji.” 

“You mean the princess.” Dami spat with anger.

“No, I mean Minji.” Handong’s voice made Dami flinch, her fists clenched tighter. “Minji may have Royal blood rushing through her veins but she’s the key to ending the Spider reign and bringing peace to Polaris.” 

“Polaris is doomed, why am I the only one who seems to realise that Polaris is a lost cause and we need to leave.” Dami spat, folding her arms as she got to her feet to leave. Her patience was running out, she needed to clear her head. 

Handing grabbed her wrist, her eyes pleading for her to stay. “At least give her a chance to explain.” 

“She is the reason Gahyeon is an orphan, Handong!” Dami pulled her arm away. “Or has your duty to the all powerful _Princess_ of Polaris blinded you?”

Handong’s jaw clenched, her eyes lit up like newly started fire. The accusatory tone that she used made her stomach turn. Her tone unsettling as she spoke.

_“What are you implying, Lee Yubin?”_

“Maybe it isn’t me and Gahyeon who truly have your heart or your loyalty.” Dami met her lover’s eyes with a hardened gaze. “I should’ve expected more from a palace guard.” 

“Enough you two!” Gahyeon stood at the door, her shirt loosely tucked into her trousers. Her eyes were slightly red, a clear sign she was crying not that long ago.

Handong looked away.

“You’re both acting like children!” Gahyeon scolded as she approached them, determination in her steps as she spoke sternly. “Yubin, you have no right questioning Handong hiding her past when you do the same thing. It’s immature and hypocritical so stop it. And you,” she faced Handong, “you are going to tell us exactly why you kept something so big to yourself. We’re a team, a family, we are here to help you.” 

“It isn’t my place to say.” Handong turned her back to them and inhaled, trying her best to keep together. “Ask her majesty when she wakes up after healing.” 

Dami grunted as she shook herself out of Gahyeon's grip, leaving the room, the only thing she left behind was the echoing slam of the door.

* * *

**BORA AND SIYEON’S ROOM**

Siyeon was perched on the edge of a seat, waiting patiently for Bora to open her eyes. 

After Bora stabbed Minji, Bora collapsed on top of her, her entire body seizing before everything suddenly stopped. Siyeon was terrified. All she wanted to do was protect the woman she loved from her worst enemy but she failed. She failed again. Tears filled her eyes. 

“You could fall off the chair if you don’t sit on it properly..” A weak voice whispered, making Siyeon immediately look at the now awake Bora. 

Siyeon softly chuckled. “I can handle falling from a chair…”

“Don’t come whining to me when you get another splinter.” 

Bora was weak and she knew Siyeon could tell. Every movement made her weaker and wince in pain, even smiling was taking too much energy from her.

“Hi Wolfie.” Bora weakly grinned when Siyeon met her eyes again.

Siyeon leaned forward, gently massaging Bora’s scalp and earned a soft hum of pleasure. Siyeon smiled shyly. 

“Hi, little bird.” 

Bora rolled her eyes playfully at the nickname before Siyeon took her hand in her own.

“Want to explain why I feel like a horse trampled me?” Bora’s voice was much more gentle and soft compared to her usual tone and it made Siyeon’s heartache.

“I don’t know if I can protect you.”

“Huh?” Bora croaked, her throat raw.

Siyeon began to sob, hiding her face in her lover’s neck as she recounted the events from the previous day, her voice was laced with worry, pain and exhaustion. By the end of Siyeon’s explanation, Bora pulled her closer, hugging her tightly and whispered comforting words. 

“Why are you sad, my love?” Bora asked, making Siyeon meet her eyes. “Tell me what’s on your mind.” 

“You attacked her, Bora.” Siyeon’s voice cracked, her eyes wide with a newfound terror. “They’ll punish you.” 

Bora felt her heart sink. She swallowed. “And I will accept it.” 

Siyeon sat back. “How could you do that to her? To Minji?” 

“I wasn’t in control.” Bora slowly sat up, wincing slightly. “I don’t know what happened.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I think…” Bora’s voice shook. “I think she’s in my head.” 

“Who?” 

“Emilia..I think she used her trump card.” Bora met Siyeon’s gaze. “I think she’s in control.” 

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

_Bora hovered over Emilia’s still conscious body, whimpering in pain as Bora removed the dagger she buried within her._

_“You really have changed, little one.” Emilia’s eyes were teary as she tightened her grip on Bora’s neck, gasping for air for pain. “I-I was wrong to underestimate you like that, you have grown strong. You are more beautiful than I could’ve expected, more than I could’ve wished for.”_

_“Mistress,” Bora was crying, her hand shaky as she dropped the dagger and hugged Emilia closer, one hand caressing her face. “I-what did I do?”_

_“What I taught you to do.” Emilia used her blood stained thumb to wipe away Bora’s tears. “My dear SuA, so passionate, charming and brave. My perfect warrior. My love.”_

_Bora sobbed louder as Emilia brought their lips together, wanting to feel them against hers for a final time. Emilia grinned when they backed out, Bora’s breathing erratic as Emilia’s grip on her neck tightened._

_“Your love for your wolf will never amount to the love you have for your princess.” Emilia whispered. “Does your love know where your allegiance truly lies? Or should I say your body?”_

_“I love her.”_

_“That is true, you do love her.” Emilia grinned sadistically when Bora looked away from her, no longer able to meet her eyes. “But my question is this, dear one, which one do you love more?”_

_“I will not choose.” Bora refused to answer._

_“Look into my eyes, my dear SuA, and I shall show you everything that you’d like to know about your precious wolf and the lies about your princess. I will show you what has happened and what will come to pass.”_

* * *

**PRESENT DAY**

“One of the days after Princess Ji U healed my wounds, her handmaiden walked into the room to help her get ready...She saw me laying in the same bed as her majesty. Princess Ji U was summoned to the royal court. She promised to take care of anything so I wouldn’t get in trouble with the King, Queen and Mistress Emilia. She never told me what happened when she came back to her chambers, only that she had to meet with Mistress Emilia alone for a few hours.” Bora couldn’t meet Siyeon’s eyes when she let her into her mind, allowing her to see what happened when she saw Emilia. She knew Siyeon was hurt by the kiss she witnessed.

“You know what happened to her, don’t you?” Siyeon was watching Bora’s expressions the entire time, knowing that Bora wasn’t able to hide her emotions from her. “That’s what you meant when you said she tortured herself, isn’t it?” 

“I-” 

“You love her.” It was a statement, a fact. Siyeon knew she was right when Bora’s teary eyes met her gaze, her heart stopped beating. 

Bora deflected. “I love you.” 

“I know you do, I love you so much.” Siyeon rested her forehead on Bora’s. “But I need to know if you love her so please, please tell me.” 

* * *

**THE INFIRMARY**

“So, how does it look?” Minji asked Sunmi as she examined her abdomen, wincing when the cold cloth was gently dabbed onto the area surrounding the wound. 

Sunmi gave her a nod which was accompanied with an attempt of a comforting grin. “You’re healing nicely, your grace.” 

“I can’t believe she stabbed me.” Minji was in shock as she watched Sunmi clean her wound. When their eyes met and the princess saw the silent tears, she smiled sadly. "We don't have much time left, do we?" 

"Maybe there's another way-" The door opened and Sunmi immediately stopped talking, her eyes shooting towards the door only to find slight comfort. 

“I can’t believe you’re the princess of Polaris.” Yoohyeon stood dejectedly in the doorway, her eyes on the floor.

Sunmi took that as her cue. “I’ll leave you two alone.” 

“Were you ever going to tell me?” Yoohyeon asked, her eyes meeting Minji. 

Minji nodded. “After we won.”

“That’s all you’re going to say? No ‘I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you’?” Yoohyeon was angry, her balls clenched into fists. “I trusted you, we ALL trusted you and you betrayed us!”

“ENOUGH!” Minji got to her feet and slowly made her way towards Yoohyeon. “Everything I have ever done was to SAVE YOU ALL. STOP ACTING AS IF I’M THE BAD GUY.”

“YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY ARE THE VILLAINS, YOUR HIGHNESS!” Yoohyeon brought her fist down angrily on a nearby table. “YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM! You never actually cared about me.”

“If i were anything like them, I wouldn’t have saved any of you. I wouldn’t have saved you!” 

Yoohyeon froze.

“I wouldn’t have sacrificed everything that I stood for you and you stand there, all high and mighty to doubt my intentions? Well, newsflash Yoohyeon, I wouldn’t have risked my life for someone I didn’t love. I wouldn’t have subjected myself to two years of torture if I didn’t slightly care about you.” Minji was crying, her body shaking as she sobbed. “Everything I have ever done was for the people of Polaris so don't you dare question that ever again, why can't all of you see that I'm trying to save you all!” 

“You are the reason Gahyeon’s parents were killed.”

“I’m not!” Minji slumped over the table, coughing violently as she fell to her knees. The room itself flickered as if the sun itself was threatening to extinguish its rays. She coughed more violently. 

Yoohyeon’s eyes widened in panic and worry. “Minji!” She rushed over but Minji shook her off, her entire body shook violently as she coughed. Her eyes were glassy as she shakily got to her feet. 

“What was that?” Yoohyeon asked once Minji seemingly recovered enough to talk.

Minji met her eyes without hesitation. “A cough, it happens sometimes when your throat is dry.” 

“But not that kind of cough,” Yoohyeon examined Minji, taking in her obviously injured stance but also noticed how she was slightly hunched over as if trying to relieve pain from somewhere. Her skin a sickly colour, sweat glossing her skin. “Minji, you’re sick, aren’t you?” 

“Yoohyeon,” Minji gritted her teeth as she faced the blonde haired woman. “Drop it. Please.” 

“No, I won’t, so you’re going to tell me.” Yoohyeon nagged, folding her arms to show that she wasn’t going to move until she was told. 

Minji glared at her. “You’re so stubborn, I hope you know that.”

“You’re also stubborn but that’s to be expected from a Taurus, I guess.” 

A small smile appeared on Minji’s face before fading away. “I don’t want you to ever be mad at me, Yooh.”

“Then don’t keep things from me.” Yoohyeon’s eyes teared up. “I don’t ever want to be mad at you so please don’t keep things like that from me ever again.” 

Minji blinked back tears as she was pulled into a hug. “I’m sorry..” 

“I know.” 

“I never meant for it to hurt you, to hurt any of you.” Minji spoke into Yoohyeon’s neck as the latter refused to let her go. “I was trying to protect you, the less you knew the less damage it would’ve caused to the Resistance if any of you were captured. I wanted to tell you all so many times but they ordered me not to.” 

“They didn’t want us to know? Why?” 

“ I’m not sure, they never told me.” Minji cried harder, her voice getting higher.

Yoohyeon’s heart sank, she was lying. “Stop trying to protect us, unnie. We can do it ourselves, we’re in this together. We’re a team, a family. We protect each other.” 

“I-” 

“Minji unnie?” Bora opened the door slowly, Siyeon right behind her. 

Minji smiled sadly at the pair as she removed herself from Yoohyeon’s arms, she didn’t need magic to tell her that they were both sad. “Is everything okay?” 

“I-” Bora opened her mouth to speak but Minji raised her hand and her voice died in her throat. Her eyes fell to the floor and Siyeon squeezed her hand reassuringly. 

“Emilia did that, not you.” Minji spoke quietly, a comforting smile that was meant to reassure Bora on her face but that didn’t mask the fear and uneasiness in her eyes. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Bora’s eyes glazed over as she apologised, hands balling into fists as she began to lightly punch her forehead before it got worse. She fell to her knees as she continued to sob“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Minji caught Bora’s wrists as she got to her knees, pulling her into a hug. “It’s okay, little bird. You’re okay, I’m okay.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“I know…” Minji whispered as she rocked Bora back and forth, comforting her the way she used to. “I forgive you, little bird so please don’t cry.” 

“I broke my promise.” 

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

_“You’re not going to get in trouble for walking in the Gardens, are you?” Bora asked as Princess Ji U linked their arms together. “I really don’t want to risk the King’s wrath.”_

_Princess Ji U chuckled as she met a Knight’s eyes, “Is that your way of saying that you’re fond of me, Miss SuA?”_

_“Huh?” Bora tilted her head to the side, her confusion apparent in her eyes and face._

_“For an assassin, you’re not very self-aware, little bird.” Princess Ji U smiled brightly at her, chuckling before nudging her slightly as she whispered, “We’re being followed by a few protectors.”_

_“And why should that concern us?” Bora yelped when she was pulled behind several pillars quickly. “Was that really necessary?”_

_“You want to get to the Gardens, don’t you?”_

_“Well, I g-guess?” Bora stammered, cheeks flushing at their proximity to each other._

_The Princess grinned and held her hand, pulling her to follow her down the staircase meant for servants. “We can go out the doorway in the kitchen, we’d need to be quick though.”_

_Bora couldn’t stop the shy smile from creeping onto her cheeks, staining them with pink as she watched the Princess lead her down the stone staircase, their steps echoing in the darkness. When they finally reached the bottom, they shared a sweet smile that seemed to warm the cold room._

_“Your highness?” Her handmaiden Rosalie appeared at the doorway, a look of shock on her face when she noticed their entwined hands. She turned, running upstairs to get to the throne room, the Princess immediately following._

_“Rosie? Rosie, please come back!” The princess cried out, pleading for her to stop, Bora following her._

_The Handmaiden glanced over her shoulder. “I’m sorry, your highness but I have my orders.”_

_“Rosalie, I command you to stop!”_

_Everyone stopped, Rosalie’s hand on the doorknob, Princess Ji U behind her and Bora beside her. The Princess had her arm outstretched and her hand in a fist, her eyes darkening with the room._

_“Your majesty-” Rosalie gasped in pain as she was forced onto her knees, her entire body shaking with the pain. “Please-”_

_“Did I say you can speak?” Princess Ji U fist tightened and Rosalie began to choke. “You will not tell the King or Queen that you saw us, is that understood?”_

_“B-but-” She let out a choked sob when she was thrown into the stone wall, her entire body stiff.. “I-I understand-”_

_“You understand what?” Her fist slowly began to open and Rosalie slumped over, crying in pain._

_“I understand, your grace.” Rosalie bowed before shakily getting her to feet, Bora helping her._

_Once they were alone, Bora faced the older woman with fearful eyes, her entire body shaking. “What was that?”_

_“I-I don’t know.” The Princess looked equally afraid, she was staring at her shaking hands before wiping the blood from her nose. “I-I just got scared...I wanted to protect you.”_

_Bora entwined their hands, slowly, not wanting to experience what Rosalie just went through. “Let’s go see Sunmi, she should know what to do.”_

_“What if she tells my parents?” Princess Ji U tried to step away but Bora’s grip tightened. “They’ll punish me again, I can't Bora, I-I won't-”_

_“I’ll make sure she doesn’t.” Bora hugged her tight, not caring if the blood stained her shirt. “I’ll make sure you’re safe, I promise.”_

_“You’ll hurt me.”_

_Bora felt her heart break when the older girl tried to escape from her grasp but she held on tighter. “I promise I’ll never harm you, okay? I would rather choose death.”_

_“Bora, I'm afraid." Minji sobbed hysterically into the younger girl's neck, her entire body still shaking. Her eyes flashing with the same fear similar to the kind that one would see coming from a cornered animal; unpredictable and wild. "Bora-"_

_“I love you, Minji.” Bora’s grip loosened as they met each other’s eyes, Bora’s fingertips tracing her facial features as if she were the artist that created the masterpiece in front of her. Tracing her jawline, Bora smiled. “I vow to never harm you, to stay beside you through your hardships, your secrets now mine.”_

_“I wish I was able to spend the rest of my life with you.”_

_“Me too…”_

* * *

**PRESENT DAY**

Minji sat on the throne, looking down at the assassins that used to follow her without question, love was now replaced with distrust. She sighed; how the mighty had fallen. She glanced at Handong who gave her a reassuring smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, she saw how Handong seemed to constantly search the room for her two missing lovers. Minji observed how Siyeon’s eyes were teary every time she would check on Bora and saw how Bora tried to hug her closer. She noticed how Yoohyeon looked like a lost puppy, opening her mouth to speak but immediately giving up, releasing an audible sigh. 

The wind howled through the trees in the surrounding forest, the rain hit the high raised windows of the throne room. The castle was more eerie than normal. The rain echoed throughout the dim room causing everyone to shiver.

“Where’s Dami?” Gahyeon was the one who broke the uncomfortable silence when she entered the grand hall. “I can’t find her anywhere.” 

“Did you check the stables?” Yoohyeon asked, breaking her silence. 

“Her horse is still there but her bow and quiver are missing.” Gahyeon looked worried. “Do you think she went hunting? We should go after her, right?.” 

“Dami can look after herself, Gahyeon.” Minji shook her head. 

“If it wasn’t for you, she wouldn’t have left in the first place.” Gahyeon spat, shocking everyone in the room. “Her entire family was slaughtered by your father for no reason. Everything bad that has happened in Polaris is because of your fucking family, unnie! The least you can do is apologise to everyone for the pain they’d caused.” 

“Gahyeon-” Minji opened her mouth but was silenced by the youngest.

“You said that we were a family, unnie..Do you remember that? After you had your first successful mission, you looked at each one of us and said that we were a family, you _promised_ that you wouldn’t abandon us but you did! Family don’t lie and they most definitely don't break promises that they make.” Gahyeon pointed angrily at Minji. “Do you have any idea what we all felt when you were taken? Did you know how it affected us? Bora and Siyeon barely slept because they were working so hard to find you that they forgot to, they were so exhausted to the point Sunmi had to sedate them to make sure they slept. Handong almost died several times when she tried reaching out to you through her mind and how she almost slipped into shock every-time she would come back from the other side. Yoohyeon slipped into depression and had night terrors every night, she couldn’t even eat so we would have to force feed her, do you know how terrifying that is to people? Dami, she beat herself up because she thought it was her fault that she didn’t insist on going with you. She thought she failed you, that she disappointed you...And me? I trained non-stop to the point I would be on bed-rest for days because I couldn’t move. I thought that maybe if I was able to get onto the field, you would be proud of me whenever you’d return. I always thought you’d come back on your own and say how you defeated the son of a bitch that killed my parents, how you fulfilled your promise to me...but you, you’re not the same Minji who I looked up to, she would’ve never had lied to me like you have.” 

“You think I willingly left you?” Minji stood up, her eyes on fire as she met Gahyeon’s gaze. “I sacrificed my entire existence for you all countless times, I gave everything I had to protect you all. I never once asked for anything in return because I know what my family have done and I pay for it everyday and night. You think I took it lightly when we came across your parents burnt lynched bodies? I never felt so disgusted at my parents’ actions until then. I do intend on fulfilling that promise but only when we have the opportunity to. I don’t like risking you girls because, believe or not, you are my family and I would sacrifice myself again for my family if it meant that you’d be safe.” She scanned the room as she spoke, her voice steely. “It was one of us or all seven of us and I chose the right one.”

“We would’ve fought beside you, unnie.” Yoohyeon’s voice was quiet as she spoke, it was as if all of her energy was taking out of her. “We could’ve had a chance.”

“Or you could’ve stayed in the castle where you belonged.” Gahyeon’s voice was shaking with emotions, her tears staining her cheeks, her eyes flashing with anguish. “You left a perfect life for nothing, you could’ve made a difference if you stayed where you were and was crowned.”

“None of you seem to understand that will never happen!” Minji snapped, her voice bounced off the walls and everyone jumped. “I can’t be Queen because the King isn’t my actual father! I can’t be Queen because as long as I’m alive, they are too. Somethings in life are just more complicated than they appear, so do me a favour, and stop using the excuse of me being the princess of the King to blame me for every lousy thing that has happened to you all. I may have been a Princess but I was a prisoner there. Each of you had loving families and yes, they ended in tragedy but at least they loved you. My family never told me that they loved me, they never told me that they cared. They would strip me of everything that people thought of me in front of their guests and would take turns in making their mark, punishing me for my father’s transgressions.”

“Who are you, Minji?” Yoohyeon asked, wringing her hands together. 

“Oh, great!” The door opened and four people walked in. “You’re all here. Perfect.” 

“Seulgi?” Minji frowned at the familiar face. “What are you guys doing here?” 

“We found her, we found Yeri and we need your help to get her.” Irene spoke, pulling the hood to her robe down. “We;re going to get her.”

“And why do you need us?” Bora asked.

“You’re the best, no?” Seulgi quirked her eyebrow.

“No.” Gahyeon shook her head, wiping her eyes and then facing their guests. “We need to find Dami, she should be our priority.” 

“Yeri has been missing for months, Gahyeon.” Sooyoung folded her arms. “We need to get her, we need to bring her home. She’s our family.” 

Wendy cleared her throat. “We helped you when her highness went missing.” 

“You guys knew?” Gahyeon fumed. “That’s it, I’m done with this.” Gahyeon grabbed her cloak and began to make her way towards the entrance way. 

“Gahyeon!” Minji limped towards the younger woman, grabbing her wrist. “It’s dangerous to go out by yourself.” 

“Well, I’m not sitting here until a ransom note or news of an execution comes.” Gahyeon spat. “I’m doing this and you’re not stopping m-”” 

“That’s not what I was going to say.” Minji interrupted. “I was going to say that I’m coming with you.” 

“I-” 

“This isn’t a choice you’re getting to make, Gahyeon.” Minji left no room to argue as she stormed towards the door, picking up her sword and sheathing it, and putting on the cloak that Handong brought her. “The rest of you, go with RV and get Yerim back.” 

“We follow you.” Bora shook her head, not wanting to follow the others. “You’re our leader.” 

“So as your leader,listen to me and obey me, Bora.” Minji snapped her head towards her. “You need to obey me so just go, no arguing, no hesitation. Be the hero that you were meant to be and go fucking save someone. Anyone else who has any hesitations?” The room was silent so she nodded, pleased with their reactions. “Gahyeon, let’s go. The rest of you, follow Joohyun and her orders.” 

* * *

**IN THE WOODS**

Minji and Gahyeon walked in silence for twenty minutes as they followed the tracks that Dami left behind. Gahyeon hugged her cloak tighter around her body, shivering at the cold and the being in the forest. The mud squelched as they walked on it, trying not to fall in the mud. The rain was getting harder but it still didn’t seem to drown out the thoughts coming from the younger woman.

“Come on,” Minji sighed. “Let everything out.” 

“Let what out?” Gahyeon kept her eyes forward as she ducked under low hanging branches. 

“Stop acting as if you weren’t just yelling at me twenty minutes.” Minji scoffed, rolling her eyes. “We’re alone now so you can say what you were holding back, let it out otherwise it’s going to bury you.”  
  


“I have nothing left to say.” 

“That’s not true. I can feel your emotions, Gahyeon, I can hear your thoughts shouting at me so let it out.” Minji told her, pulling her back to stop. “So, let it out. Say it, shout it, scream it. Hell, I don’t even care if you punch me but you need to get it out otherwise it’s going to eat you from the inside and destroy everything you hold dear.” 

“You don’t know that.” 

“But I do know. Why do you think Polaris is in shambles? It certainly isn’t because we’re all so good at fucking saying our emotions, it’s because we keep the buried until there’s nothing left but a poison that rots at us from the inside, that’s why the war started. That’s why people rebel.” Minji explained. “Don’t let it poison you.” 

Gahyeon began to cry. “I hate you.” 

“No, you don’t.” Minji shook her head. “You hate the fact that I’m part of the thing that you hate. You hate that I’m related to the people who killed your parents.” 

“This is all your fault.” Gahyeon choked on her tears as she fell to her knees. “They knew that she was contacting you, they knew you were going to be waiting for me and that’s why they were there. They used my family, my home as bait to catch you!” 

“Gahyeon, they were onto your parents long before I left the castle…” Minji pushed her wet hair out of her face. “They were part of the rebellion, their days were numbered.” 

“I- no, they weren’t. Stop lying!” Gahyeon gritted her teeth. 

“General Lee had their names in his book, Gahyeon-ah.” Minji continued. “I know you don’t want to hear this but your parents knew the risk they were taking, they knew they were going to die. They were sacrificing themselves for you. Their only daughter.” Minji carefully cupped Gahyeon’s face, using her thumbs to wipe away her tears as she spoke. “The rebellion used them as scapegoats so they could extract you. They needed you to survive.” 

“What are you saying?” Gahyeon sniffled, her eyes searching Minji’s, desperate for some kind of answer. 

“Gahyeon-ah, the rebellion betrayed your parents.” Minji surmised. 


	6. The Wolf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's basically a brief overview of Siyeon's past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone,
> 
> Sorry for the long wait but here you go. Please remember that any and all feedback is welcomed, I do enjoy reading your comments and hearing your thoughts and theories of what's happening. 
> 
> My twitter: @madenayeonsmile  
> Discord: AwooSiyeon~#7761

**SIX YEARS OLD**

To say Siyeon’s mother disapproved of her daughter’s interest in swords was putting it lightly. She despised her daughter going to sword training instead of having an actual childhood and playing with the rest of the noble children. So, when Siyeon unwrapped a dull steel sword on her sixth birthday, she felt her heart stop.

“No.” Siyeon’s mother shook her head furiously. “Absolutely not. She’s your child, not one of your knights.” 

“I want to be a knight like father!” Siyeon announced with a bright smile as she swung the sword wildly as if she was in battle. She ran in circles of the manor, arms outstretched as if mimicking the birds that soared above her head, chirping the song that she grew up with. The Lee Manor was located near the Royal Family’s Castle, the woods surrounded both properties and a river that streamed nearby, the sound of the water rushing usually echoed throughout the ground of the Lee Manor and the occasionally marching footsteps of the guards. 

“Let her be whatever she wants to be, Mi-ra. Our daughter has fire in her heart and soul, she’s meant to be a fighter.” General Lee gazed lovingly at his only child, his heir, his legacy. “Power courses through her entire body, can’t you feel it?” 

“Dong-hyun, she is your daughter. Not a weapon for war.” Mi-ra scolded before smiling brightly when her daughter embraced them both in a tight hug. 

“Thank you, thank you. This is the best present ever!” Siyeon squealed excitedly, bouncing up and down. “I will be the greatest swordsman in the world! Even better than Miss Ji-eun!”

* * *

**EIGHT YEARS OLD**

“This is my daughter, your highness.” General Lee beamed as he presented his daughter to the royal family. “It’s her birthday.” 

“Happy birthday, little warrior.” The Queen gently smiled at Siyeon as the young teenager bowed to show her respect. 

“Fredrick?” The Queen signalled for one of the closest servants to come to her. 

He kneeled in front of the thrones, his eyes on the feet of the Queen. “Yes, your highness?” 

“Fetch Ji U and bring her here, make sure she’s presentable for our little knight, okay?” The Queen ordered before dismissing him with the wave of her hand. 

Siyeon couldn’t pull her eyes away from the Queen. She sat poised on the throne, her neck extended as her golden tiara sat perched on top of her black hair. Her dark-shadowed eyes seemed to be glinting as she smiled sweetly at the girl. Siyeon swallowed nervously. 

“How old are you, little lady?” The King asked gently, getting out of his throne and holding his hand out for her to take. 

Siyeon grasped his hand carefully, looking back at her father who gave her a reassuring smile before answering. “I’m eight years old, your grace.” 

“Eight years old!” The King pretended to be amazed as he walked her back to his throne, lifting and placing her gently onto it and stood beside her. “Have you been knighted yet, little one?” 

Siyeon shook her head, her voice small as she kicked her feet on the throne. “No, sir.” 

“She’s been training with Ji-eun.” General Lee announced proudly as the King smiled. “She’s going to be training with Emilia for a while alongside her new ward.” 

“Is that what you want in life, Siyeon?” The King asked, making her look at him. “To be a Knight and serve your King?” 

“I want to help people.” Siyeon answered, her voice tiny in the colossal room. “To serve my Royal family.”

“I see…” The king ruffled his beard as if thinking before clicking his fingers suddenly. “What if...if this was your Kingdom? How would you rule?” 

“Fairly and justly.” Siyeon hesitated, looking at her father who gave her another encouraging nod. “Like you, your majesty.” 

The doors to the throne room were thrown open noisily and Fredrick entered, three females behind him. Siyeon gulped loudly as her eyes landed on the princess who carried herself with grace and elegance that even without the silver tiara that perched on top of her head, you would easily identify her. Their eyes met and Siyeon began to get to her feet but was stopped with a heavy hand on her shoulder. The King pushed her to sit back down and the young girl swallowed nervously, she began to shrink under the watchful gaze of the princess. 

Princess Ji U frowned at the sight in front of her, her fast walking turned to a slow pace before she stopped in front of the four thrones and curtsying. “You wanted to see me, mother?” 

“Yes, we would like to introduce you to General Lee’s daughter, Siyeon.” The Queen stood up and took her daughter’s hands, pulling her towards the Queen’s throne and gently pushing her onto it before taking several steps away with her husband, beaming at the two. “What did I tell you? A match made by the Gods themselves!” 

“Excuse me?” The princess paled as Siyeon choked on her words. 

The King patted the General’s shoulder with happiness. “You weren’t kidding when you said they would look powerful together, General. I can already see how beautiful my grandchildren will be!” 

“Whoa whoa stop.” The Princess stood up and put as much distance between her and the young to-be knight, confusion written on her face. “What are you all talking about?” 

“Why your future, dear. You and little Lee are going to be betrothed.” The Queen’s eyes glinted as she spoke, her voice sharp as she left no space for argument. 

“From now and forever, Siyeon will be staying at the castle, her bedchamber has already been organised and is now just waiting for her.” The King gave her a little bow. “Prince Siyeon.” 

Siyeon’s eyes widened as she glanced at the princess. 

_ What?  _

* * *

**13 YEARS OLD**

“Why do you fight, Siyeon?” The Princess asked the young knight as they strolled through the gardens together, arms linked together. The sun shone brightly in the sky, embracing the two lovers in its warmth. 

The princess wore casual clothing; a loose white shirt tucked into high waist trousers, her sun kissed hair was hung around her in loose curls and her tiara placed securely on her head. The Knight on the other hand wore light armour that was her signature blue colour which she received as a gift from the King on the day she was Knighted. Her sword was tied to her belt and she wore a half of a glove on her wielding hand. Her black hair braided loosely down her back.

If you told Siyeon that, overtime, she would enjoy being the next in line for the Polaris throne, she would have laughed and called you insane, but, as she walked through the Orchid Garden with Princess Minji, she couldn’t help but feel at peace with the older girl, slightly exhausted but at peace. With each step she took, exhaustion became her, the wound on her waist making her hold in a wince of pain. But, the young knight didn’t want her betrothed to see her like this so she leaned onto a nearby tree to rest, thinking of her answer.

“I fight for what I love, your grace.” Siyeon hummed at the question, she pulled the Princess close to her. “Luckily that includes you and this kingdom.”

“Luckily?” The Princess tilted her head, taken aback with the Knight’s choice of words. Her eyes watched Siyeon’s face carefully before asking again, clearly noticing the flicker of pain on her face before her eyes flickered to something behind the young knight before meeting them again. “Have you been to the villages?” 

Siyeon nodded, as she sat on a nearby bench. “Yes, father took me patrolling with some of the knights in training a few weeks ago.” 

“And the people of the villages...are they happy?” 

Siyeon frowned, observing the princess as she spoke. Something was wrong. The Knight looked around, noticing how some of the Royal Knights weren’t at their station and had their hands on their swords. Siyeon’s hands drifted slowly to the hilt of hers.

“What did you hear?” Siyeon spoke quietly as she pulled the older girl close to her, before getting up and gently pushing her against a nearby apple tree with her hand on the hilt of her sword. 

The princess blushed at the action before answering, her voice low. “I overheard that in some parts of the kingdom, there’s been riots. A talk of a rebellion. Is it true?” 

Siyeon brought her face close to the Princess’, their lips almost touching as she spoke. “I think you need to get out of here, your highness.”

Minji straightened at the sudden formality. “What? Why?”

“I spent nine years learning all of the names of the royal knights, taking my time in building relationships with them so when I take my father’s place, they’ll be loyal.” Siyeon explained quietly as she slowly took out her sword. “I have no idea who those knights are.” Siyeon turned to face the intruders, sword in hand. “You are committing treason by being here, rebels.. Leave now and I won’t cut you down a few sizes.”

“Give us the princess, little girl.” The intruders unsheathed their swords. “And we won’t harm you.”

“It should be me saying that to you.” Siyeon growled, standing protectively in front of the young ruler. “This is your last chance to back away.”

“So be it.”

The battle was messy and it was clear that Siyeon was struggling as she didn’t allow herself to move away from her betrothed. She was starting to get exhausted but only managed to knock out two of the incoming attackers, doing all that she needed to do to protect the princess. But it was obvious she was going to lose. Siyeon had taken too many hits to properly recover, her lip and nose were bleeding and she was already limping. 

“Your highness, run to the castle and get my father, tell him to send-”

Arrows whistled and Siyeon cried out in pain, collapsing onto the ground with an arrow sticking out from her leg, blood stained the young knight’s hand as she clutched the wound. Eyes blurring with the pain coursing through her. She felt dizzy and nauseous. The entire world seemed to spin and when her eyes landed on a shocked Minji. The princess ran to catch her, making it in time and fell to her knees, holding her close. 

“Siyeon? Are you okay?” Minji's eyes filled with tears as she put pressure onto the wound, she momentarily looked away and yelled. “GUARDS! INTRUDERS!” 

Before the younger girl could speak, the intruders grabbed the Princess roughly, gloved hands covered her mouth, and pulled her away, kicking and screaming. She did her best to struggle and Siyeon did her best to get to her feet again only to get kicked back down, one of the intruders mounted her and landed several punches on the young girl, the sound of bones cracking rang out and Minji let out a blood curdling scream. The last thing she saw was white sparks before everything faded to black. 

**_A FEW HOURS LATER_ ** __

“Is she going to be okay?” Minji’s voice cracked with worry as she stared at the unconscious girl that laid in the infirmary, refusing to let go of her hand or even leave. 

General Lee spoke in a hushed tone, his eyes on his daughter. “She just needs time to heal, your highness.”

“You’re lucky Miss Lee was there to protect you, Ji U.” The King observed his eldest child, noticing how tears stained her cheeks and how her blouse was in wrinkles and torn in places. “Go with Rosalie to change your clothes, you’re a princess, not a ruffian.” His eyes drifted to Siyeon. "She will come out of this stronger, General. My daughter-in-law is a strong one!"

“But what if she wakes up and I’m not here?” The Princess shook her head and made no attempt to move, her hand holding onto her tighter. “I don’t want to miss her waking up.” 

“Did they touch you?” The King gritted his teeth with such hatred that General Lee shifted awkwardly on his feet, looking anywhere except the princess. “When Siyeon passed out, did they touch you?” 

“They tried to but-” 

The King slammed his hand on a nearby table causing his daughter to jump, fear clear in her eyes as she bit her bottom lip nervously. “Did they defile you, Ji U? Yes or no?” 

“I don’t know.” The princess let out a scared sob, jumping at the sound before burying her face in her hands as she spoke. “I was so scared when I felt their hands that I just-everything went white and I just heard screaming. I don’t know, I really don’t.” The princess met her father’s eyes with shame. “I think they triggered something, your highness. I don’t know what exactly they triggered but I don’t feel the same.” 

“And what do you feel?” The King opened his arms, gesturing for her to come to him and when she did, he frowned. “What do you feel, Ji U?” 

“St-static…” The princess looked up at her father, her eyes watery. “I feel burning whenever I'm near her. Hot.” 

“Burning?” General Lee repeated. 

“I also can hear...it’s much more clear.” The princess’ eyes seemed to wander, never landing on anything specific. “Like everything is vibrating, I can feel everything vibrate. It can feel your anger. Your annoyance. Disgust.” Wide teary brown eyes met the King’s. “Your hatred for the villagers is strong b-but not as strong as the hatred you have for me..”

The King opened his mouth to speak but was cut off with a groan. Siyeon was stirring. 

“Signie!” The Princess ran to her betrothed bedside and held her hand tightly, hoping it would somewhat ground the younger girl. 

“What happened?” Siyeon opened her eyes, wincing at the pain that shot through her body. Sweat visible on her skin, her skin deathly pale. “I feel warm.” 

“Warm?” General Lee placed his hand on Siyeon’s forehead before quickly pulling away. “She has a fever. I’ll go get Sunmi. She’ll know what to do.” General Lee rushed out of the room, desperate to help his daughter. 

Once they were alone, Minji looked at the King once Siyeon passed out again, her breathing unsteady. “I can help her.” 

“No.” 

“She’s my betrothed!” The princess argued. “She’s also the only daughter of two wonderful and loyal subjects, she’s only thirteen!” 

“Healing takes too much energy from you!” The King hissed, his hands balling into fists. “You are not wasting energy on her!” The King clapped his hands and Rosalie and a knight entered, bowing with respect before giving him their attention. “Take my daughter to her room and clothe her properly. She should be dressed like royalty, not a peasant. Make sure she doesn’t do anything dumb.” 

“Yes, your highness.” They bowed again and gestured towards the exit, their eyes on the Princess as they waited. 

The princess sighed and got to her feet slowly, looking around the dimly lit room before turning to face the younger girl who passed out again, her mouth ajar as if she was trying to inhale as much cool air as she could. Minji lean down and pressed a gentle kiss on her cheek. 

“I’ll be back soon, my love.” The Princess softly whispered as she pressed one more kiss to her cheek before turning towards the exit, her posture regal and her face stone. She paused, turned towards the King who was observing her carefully and bowed, anger cracked her voice as she spoke, “Y-you are not my father, your highness,” and left. The armed knight and her personal servant walked on either side of her, escorting her to her room. Her hands curled into fists and the fire in her eyes glinted. 

* * *

**FIFTEEN YEARS OLD.**

The sunlight gently embraced Siyeon as she gently leaned onto the balcony that was overlooking the rose garden that she was ambushed in. She wore her simple white poet shirt that stopped at her thighs, covering her properly so she would look modest if the Royal Guards on patrol happened to glance towards her room to see her. Siyeon let out a heavy sigh as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, enjoying the distant birds singing their beautiful song.

Warm arms secured around her waist and the familiar scent of lavender overwhelmed her. “You’re up early.” 

“I didn’t sleep much.” Siyeon hummed as the princess pressed soft kisses on her neck and behind her ear. “Thoughts wouldn’t leave me alone.” 

“Well, that’s to be expected of the heir of Polaris.” Minji let her chin rest on the younger’s shoulder as she watched the sunrise before getting lost in her thoughts. . “To think I used to hate you and what your role in my life meant, yet here I am, giving you all parts of me.” She pressed another kiss on the bottom of her neck. “I’m not the one you want though, am I?” A pause. “I’m sorry that you’ll be trapped here like I am…” 

“Minji-” 

“It’s okay, Signie.” The Princess let her arms gently fall from Siyeon’s waist. “When do you go back to Lady Emilia’s to train?”

“She requested that I go return to her next week.” She answered solemnly as she pinched the skin on the older girl’s hand, her anxiousness showing. 

“And her ward...she’ll be there too, won’t she?” Minji questioned as Siyeon turned to face her to hug her tightly, tears in her eyes as the younger one’s emotions overwhelmed her. 

“Miss SuA, yes. She is always by her Mistress’ side.” Siyeon nodded, a small smile appearing on her face before fading. “Lady Emilia scares me. I know I’m supposed to be strong but I-” Siyeon buried her face in the princess’ neck, unable to finish her sentence before inhaling her calming scent. “There’s just something so...off about how Lady Emilia treats her ward.” 

Minji frowned, looking at Siyeon with curiosity. “What do you mean?” 

“Well, Lady Emilia and Miss SuA were dancing and Miss SuA wasn’t really aware of where she was going and she crashed into General Murati, his drink spilled everywhere and he slapped her in front of all the attendees..She immediately went to kneel down, unnie, it was as if it was instinct but Lady Emilia stopped her and gestured for General Murati and Miss SuA to follow her…Even with the music, I could still hear screaming...Something isn’t right, Minji..I’m scared something might happen to her.”

“I know you are.” Minji’s voice was quiet as Siyeon pressed soft kisses on her jawline, eyes closed as the younger slowly guided her back to the bed and gently pushed her back before sitting in front of her, back pressed against front.. “I promise I won’t let any harm come to you or her, Signie. I’ll look into it, okay? I promise.” 

Siyeon met the Princess’ loving gaze, pain present in her throat as she swallowed as she laced their hands together. “And I promise to stay loyal to you, my Queen. My wife.” 

“That’s sweet of you, darling, but, unfortunately, I am not the one you end up loving.”

Siyeon frowned at what the princess said, confusion was clear in her eyes. Has she not been showing her enough affection? Something was off about Minji, Siyeon studied her closely. Minji’s voice was no louder than a mere whisper, her tone as soft as Egyptian cotton, her eyes were slightly teary. Siyeon took in the sight under her; Minji’s hair was slightly tousled from her sleep and her white lace night dress seemed to hypnotise her. 

“Are you saying you don’t want to get married to me?” Siyeon asked quietly before hurt flashed through her eyes. “If you have found another lover, I’d rather you tell me than acting as if I am the one with an affair!” 

“I don’t need magic to tell me that you aren’t happy within these walls, that you feel trapped here with the royal family. With me.” Minji shook her head, her gently and respectfully placed on the other’s waist. “I don’t want to condemn you to an unhappy life, I would never be able to live with myself.” 

“I’m never going to leave your side, my darling Minji.” Siyeon promised,turning around to straddle her, hands cupping her chin, she spoke with so much sincerity that Minji’s eyes teared up once again. Siyeon frowned. “What’s the matter? You’ve been acting strange since you came back from your trip to Seer of the Spider, what happened?” Siyeon asked, frowning when she noticed the panic on her betrothed face.

Minji’s eyes widened before an unreadable emotion took over her face. “It doesn’t matter, just ignore me.” 

“Except that it obviously does-” 

The princess flipped their positions, a proud smirk on her face as she pinned her hands above her head. “Have I made you speechless, my love?” 

“I-” Siyeon swallowed nervously as the other girl’s hands began to creep up her legs towards her centre, gasping slightly with pleasure once she began massaging slowly . “Minji,I- we-” Her mouth opened when the princess’ hands reached their destination, a low moan escaping her lips. “I-we need to talk about this..” 

“So, you want me to stop?” 

Siyeon immediately smiled when Minji connected their lips softly, a soft hand placed on her cheek as she pulled her closer. “We’re still going to talk about this later.” 

“I know…” Minji spoke breathlessly, silent tears ran down her cheeks as she rested her forehead against the other’s. “I just want you. I want to forget everything.” She met the other girl’s eyes. “Please let me forget…” 

* * *

“How long do we have? Before it happens?” Siyeon sat dejectedly on the edge of the bed, fully clothed, her face hidden in her hands as she tried to avoid looking at the princess. Her blonde hair cascaded messily down her back and shoulders, her dark eyes misty as she listened carefully to the other one, her heart pounding against her ribs. 

Minji let out a shaky breath. “A few years, I think. Although I’m not certain…” 

“You’re not certain? You’re not certain?” Siyeon let out a sob that brought tears to the other girl. “How are you not certain? Minji! Please tell me that you’re lying...Please.” 

“I only saw flashes, I-  Bavishya only said what is coming to pass, not when.” Minji knelt in front of the young wolf, taking her hands to hold. “I need you to promise me that you’ll put yourself first, Signie.”

“I can’t-”

“Please, Signie..” Her voice cracked as she looked away. “I need you to do it. When the time comes, you need to do it. Please trust me.” 

Siyeon’s bottom lip quivered as she met the princess's pleading eyes, a lump forming in her throat as she pinched the back of Minji’s hands nervously, desperate to ground herself as thought and visions of the future that was to come ambushed her. Her entire body tensed and just when she felt overwhelmed, Minji connected their lips gently, gifting her with calmness. Siyeon’s entire body relaxed. Once again, she met the princess’ eyes and nodded. 

“I promise.”


	7. You Need To Tell Them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay but I unfortunately had to deal with writers block a lot. 
> 
> As always, all comments that you leave are always appreciated and meaningful. It makes it worth writing. 
> 
> My twitter is @madenayeonsmile if you'd like to follow <3

The plan was simple; get Yerim, get out and be as sneaky as possible in order to get the young assassin out of there. And it was working, right until the moment Seulgi managed to fall through one of the windows and onto one of the kidnappers. The shatter seemed to echo throughout the entire tavern, even when the bear got to her feet shakily and smiled awkwardly at the other occupants that glared at her, their hands drifting to their weapons.

“I’m really sorry about that.” The girl gestured to the now open space on the wall and then to the badly hurt man that laid under her. Seulgi gave them her most friendly smile as she spoke, trying to relieve some of the tension in the room as the assassins crept within the shadows, sneaking to their prey. “I was going to use the front door but it seemed to be out of order.” Her smile faded. “I guess I’ll be grateful for that once this room is stained with all of your scummy blood.” 

* * *

That’s how Yoohyeon ended up here, pinned behind the liquor bar, using shot glasses as missiles as Joohyun bandaged her ward’s waist and arms as they waited for Bora and Siyeon to give them a straight path out of there as Seulgi, Joy and Wendy were engaged in combat. 

The tavern of the Weeping Willow was in flames, the counter-tops sticky with alcohol and lined in flames. Flames licked the walls as it engulfed the entire building, black smoke filled the room, closing in around them like an impending death sentence. 

“I THINK IF WE JUST TALKED ABOUT THIS LIKE THE MATURE PEOPLE WE ARE, WE CAN COME TO AN UNDERSTANDING!” Yoohyeon yelled over her shoulder as she ducked, narrowly missing a bottle that smashed above her. “GUYS, COME ON!”

Joohyun checked Yeri’s pulse, the younger girl deathly pale and limp. “Her heartbeat is weak, I-I don’t know if she’s going to make it.” 

A low growl echoed throughout the tavern and the remaining henchmen screamed in agony as heavy paws thundered on the wooden floors, a loud crack rang out at the same time as a whimper of pain, Yoohyeon immediately stood up and was greeted by the sight of an injured wolf; her front right paw lifted off the ground as blood spilled from a wound on her waist. Injured and dead bodies surrounded the wolf as she whimpered, showing her obviously broken paw to Bora who tried her best to approach her non-threateningly, whispering reassurances to her as she got to her knees. 

“It’s okay, Signie,” Bora gave a reassuring smile as she got a blanket from her backpack, opening it so she could wrap the wolf in it. “I got you.” 

Liquid gold eyes met soft brown ones, a single lick on her cheek before the animal body changed into the human form. “We need to leave.” 

* * *

The ashes of the Weeping Willow Tavern floated up to the sky as the Assassins watched from above, the villagers desperately trying to put out the flames, broken yells could be heard from the hills from where they watched. 

“We have to tell the resistance that we need to hurry with our plan.” Wendy was the first one to speak, she’d been pacing since they stopped to rest and help their wounded. Her eyes wide and frantic as she spoke, not focusing on anything or anyone for long. “We have to attack Polaris now.” 

“You’re shitting us, aren’t you?.” Bora rolled her eyes as she sighed, not bothering to look at the older woman, her hands too focused in helping soothe the burn marks on Siyeon’s waist. 

“No, I’m not. We need to remove the tyrants from the throne before the Solstice otherwise we won’t be able to stop them on the blood moon. We need to meet with the resistance, form a plan and wipe them out. “ Wendy spoke frantically and when no one made any sign of responding, she sighed heavily, stopping her pacing and facing them all. “They’re collecting the ingredients already. Reports that 10 Gifted Children have been abducted from their rooms as they slept, brewing storm clouds hover off the Spider’s lair, and seas being un-tamable. All they need is her and then we’re done for. Polaris will forever be enslaved. It’s either now or never.” 

“We move when her highness says we move and not a moment before.” Siyeon tried to stand but was immediately forced to sit back down. 

“Wendy has a point, Signie.” Handong finally spoke, receiving everyone’s attention as she stopped stabbing the dirt below her. “The Spider is waiting for the princess to return before they perform the ritual. We take them out before the blood moon and the rebellion deals with everything else.” 

Bora shook her head. “You know we can’t do that.” 

“You know we have to..” Handong blinked back tears, shuffling awkwardly on her feet to show that she wasn’t okay with the thoughts of the future that were to come. 

Yoohyeon watched the exchange between the three women, noticing the silent argument. She was missing something important, she knew she was and she could tell by how everyone refused to be specific, to fill her in on what’s going on. Rage filled her body and she drew her sword, gaining everyone’s attention as she threw it into the nearest tree. “Are you going to explain to me what you’re all referring to or do you not think this is important enough for me to know too?” Yoohyeon clenched her fists. “We’re a team so fucking tell me these things!” 

“It’s not that simple, Yoohyeon-ah.” Bora met the taller woman’s eyes with hesitance. “There’s so much that we have to explain, so much that you might not understand…”

“Then help me understand..” Yoohyeon sniffled as she wiped her eyes, burying her face in Bora’s neck, her voice muffled as she spoke. “I feel like everything’s falling apart, that I can’t trust you all anymore. I can’t!” Bora pulled her in closer, trying her best to comfort her. “I can’t be a part of this if I don’t trust you. If I can’t trust her.” 

* * *

“Her tracks end here.” Gahyeon stood up from her crouched position beside the river. “She must’ve crossed further downstream, I don’t understand how she could-”

The sudden cease of sound caused Minji to cover her mouth as she dragged her behind the nearest tree, pressing her pointer finger to her lips signalling for her to be quiet. “I hear voices. Not on this side though.” Minji lifted her hand away slowly, peeking out from the tree, hand firmly placed on her pistol. 

The undeniable sound of men approaching rang loudly throughout the dense trees making it hard to pinpoint their exact location but, by the sound outburst of the squawking of seagulls, three of them soaring above her head before disappearing. Minji swallowed nervously. 

“We have to cross the river. I think Yubin might be in trouble, Gahyeon. I need you to listen to me if we’re going to get her back.” Minji gestured to the water, making a parting gesture. “So we can get across, do you think you can do it?” 

Gahyeon swallowed nervously as she took several deep breaths as they approached the lake, uneasiness washing over as willed the water to part for safe passage. Once she was sure that the water suddenly wasn’t going to rush back at them, she hopped down in order to protect the older woman from being squashed with the impact of the water. “Keep close.”

The awkwardness was still thick between them, tension was still high and neither knew how to address the other, four years of always having each other’s backs, of running blindly into whatever danger that threatened them disappeared. Uncertainty was heavy. 

Minji followed closely behind the youngest, making sure to check their surroundings for possible thieves or collectors. Giving Gahyeon a boost up the edge, before lifting herself up quickly, making just in time before the water began to flow naturally. Minji stared into the woods, her eyes shut as she listened, her hand pressed firmly on the nearest tree as she attempted to catch her breath, unable to feel the air in her lungs. 

“Why couldn’t you just teleport us over here?” Gahyeon frowned at the older woman, studying her closely, taking note of the sheen of sweat that was present on her forehead. 

Minji released a shaky breath. “I-I wanted to see your powers in action,” A soft smile on her face as she gazed at the younger one, “you’ve improved a lot since I saw you last. You have more control.” 

“It’s been awhile.” 

“I really am sorry, Gahyeon-ah.” Minji’s voice shook with emotion as she spoke. “I know my decision hurt a lot of you, I know who I really am has affected all of you but I-I don’t regret it. You guys are my family and I will do anything to protect you. No matter how painful it is or humiliating it is, I- You’re my family, Gahyeon-ah, and, whether you like me or not, I will make the same decision if it means that you’ll get to live a full life...because one of us deserves that.” 

“You don’t get it, do you?” Gahyeon sniffed. “I’m not mad that you sacrificed yourself, I mean, you’re the person who willingly leapt through fire to save me when the church caught fire. You’re the person who single-handedly took on a platoon of men in order to give us enough time to get Bora out of there...I’m mad that you didn’t tell us who you are. Princess Ji U of the Kingdom of Polaris. The only daughter of King Berithm, the Slayer of the Mad King. The only remaining descendant of the Spider. Beauty beyond the four Kingdoms; Wise and merciful.” Gahyeon stood straight as she spoke, her voice seemingly raising with every passing moment as she approached the monarch. “You! You could be Queen right now, you could’ve taken the throne and gave justice to those who were in need...but you ran away and I don’t know why.” 

“You wouldn’t understand..” Minji released a heavy sigh as her eyes wandered to the river, seemingly lost in thought until the younger girl embraced her into a comforting hug. One that made tears spring from her eyes. 

“I’m not asking you to tell me everything about your life.” Gahyeon’s voice was muffled as she spoke into Minji’s shoulder. “I’m asking you to trust us enough to know that you, Miss Kim Minji, is our leader and we want the same thing. You’re like our mom.” She made a face. “Excluding Yoohyeon. She’s so in love with you that it’s pitiful at times.” 

“What do we have here?” A voice from the edge of the woods made their necks snap towards it. A man dressed in tight leather armour stood in front of them, he was grinning, a small blood stained dagger in his left hand. “Where are you ladies coming from?” 

“Raidia.” Minji answered, standing up straight. “We’re looking for our friend, don’t suppose you’ve seen her?” She took in his muddy boots and the fresh scratch on his face. 

“The woods are a dangerous place, why don’t you let me escort you back to your home, hm?” As he approached, it became clearer he was a hunter of some kind, the way he held himself, cockiness radiated off of him too much for him to be someone of law ranking. “Me and my friends are heading that way now.”

“That’s nice of you but we really must continue looking for our friend.” Gahyeon’s hand drifted to her katana, her eyes searching the woods for any other person. “Unnie, let’s go.” 

Minji heard the worry in her ward’s voice, nodding in agreement. “It was nice to meet you, sir.” She tilted her head in respect and started to walk backwards, Gahyeon guiding her with a firm hand. “When we enter the trees, hang on to me as tight as you can, okay?”

Gahyeon immediately nodded, shooting a quick glance at the man who was no longer there. “Where did he-” A body collided with hers, knocking them both to the ground as an arrow narrowly missed her head. 

“Fucking bounty hunters.” Minji swore under her breath as she took out her pistols, taking cover behind a rock that just gave them enough cover to hide. “I knew he wasn’t right.” She peeked her above the cover, frowning in the direction of where the arrow came from. “If you think for a second that you’re going to see tomorrow after you shot at us, you’re fucking wrong!” 

An arrow came in response, Minji flattened against the rock, her eyes widened as she pressed a hand on her cheek where the arrow had grazed her. Anger seeped through the princess as she eyed the general direction of where it came from, the grip on one of her pistols.Her body fell forward in apparent pain before she stood up and took several shots into the woods before holstering her guns and grabbing Gahyeon, her eyes shutting.  _ I need to get Gahyeon out of here.  _ “ _ Lanuae magicae, lanuae magicae, lanuae magic-”  _

“Unnie?” Panic was clear in her voice as she tried to stand up. “We need to get Da-”

Wind blew past their ears as it surrounded them, knocking the newly released arrows away before it was replaced by the sound of horses and people chattering. Minji couldn’t stand and her eyes were blurry, her hands shook as she felt the ground in front, desperately trying to ground herself but failing. 

“Unnie?” Gahyeon’s voice cracked as she held onto her shoulders, pushing her up to keep her off the ground. “Unnie, where did you bring us to? We-we need to get Dami, where the-Why are we in Raidia?” 

“Gahyeon-ah,” Minji cupped her face, forcing the younger one to look at her. “I know-this is hard for you to understand but, Dami will be okay, she- she’s probably home by now…” Minji hunched over coughing, her entire body seemingly to shake violently but as quick as it appeared, it disappeared. She fell back against one of the trunks in the trees and clutched her side, her hand covered her mouth. “The others...they should be around here somewhere, go find them.” 

“Unnie?” 

“My stitches pulled so I can’t come with you, Gahyeon-ah. You need to find them on your own, okay? They should be on the East Mountain, that was their rendezvous point, okay? Start there and hurry, don’t stop for anyone.” 

Gahyeon nodded and stood up, her hand firmly on her Katana. “I’ll bring help, don’t worry, okay?” 

* * *

**_*Minji’s Past*_ **

_ Minji remembers the first time she showed signs of her gifts to the King and her Mother. It was after a rather harsh punishment, one she received for speaking out of term to the King and she ended up on her knees as her personal Punisher held a hot poker to both of her hands. She remembered how she screamed and cried for help but it didn’t work. The burning sensation seemed to completely and utterly overwhelm her and she ended up passing out due to the pain. She woke up several hours later in her room, tucked into the covers with fresh bandages on her hands and, what appeared to be honey, on the burns. A few hours later, a nurse came to check on her and to change the bandages only to be shocked when she discovered that they were gone. Minji was six years old.  _

_ When she was seven years old, she was forced to see if she could heal others with her will and touch but, after months of no progress, they decided to see if her blood was the key. Soon, after a few trials, they discovered that only a few drops of blood could heal any kind of wound and a cup of blood could cure the most dangerous disease.  _

_ That’s when the Spider began to visit more, every two months, a grand masquerade would happen and there, The Spider would accept the Kim's Family exchange of a cure for continuous rule of the Kingdom of Polaris. It was a thing that Minji would dread, feeling the life getting sucked from her, pain that could only be described as hellish and slowly overwhelmed her entire being until there was nothing there except the darkness that constantly sought after her. Sometimes she would try and fight it, she would try and resist its allure but then the King would order for her to be beaten, to make sure she was near death so when the Spider appeared, she wouldn’t have the strength to resist.  _

_ Everything changed when she met Siyeon. Beautiful yet handsome. She used to hate when her mom would suggest she go and visit the to-be King whilst she trained and to bring her water to show to all the other nobles that wandered the grounds that she was already betrothed- _

Electricity shot through her body, searing hot pain that made her head dizzy and her stomach churn. She fell forward, the restraints that were secured tightly around her wrists and ankles were the only reason she was still upright. Another stab of pain made her cry aloud, her hands reaching out so much she could feel the skin around her wrists began to once again break against the harsh rope, blood beginning to trickle down her hand. She’s been entrapped on this chair for the Gods know how many hours, dark bruising appearing on her ribcage and arms due to Emilia’s requests. 

“Have you had enough yet, your highness?” Emilia sipped from her wine glass as she watched as a hot poker was once again held onto her once perfect skin, grinning when she finally heard the scream that she had been waiting for in the two hours that they were in her summer chateau which was located close to Polaris. 

Whenever Minji didn’t reply, the heiress would sigh and, with a wave of her hand, fresh blood would once again fall and stain the Princess’ clothes. Minji gritted her teeth in pain when the pain of a thousand needles pricked her skin, her eyes visibly tearing as she cried through the gag that was placed in her mouth so the very girl she was trying to protect wouldn’t hear. 

“I find it interesting, you know?How the King and Queen proclaim that you and the wolf are deeply in love, how you’re betrothed and yet, not even three weeks has she been out of the Kingdom and another has found herself in your bed..” Emilia spoke with authority, a smirk on her face when she saw Minji’s head snap up when she mentioned Siyeon’s name. “The question is, who do you actually love, your highness? The Wolf who would stop at nothing to protect you from the tyranny of the King , his sadistic rule and greed for power or did the girl who showed full submission to you, who let  _ you  _ have the control and turned you into the master? Who respected you and gave the power that you  _ long  _ for, the power you’d get if you were a Queen.” 

“I know, it hurts…” Emilia held Minji’s chin tightly, her fingertips digging into the soft skin there to create bruises, her eyes filled with mocking sympathy when tears were visible. “You have to make such hard decisions in the future, don’t you? So many to save that you know that will have to die and all you can do is watch and bathe in it…” The mocking was replaced with something...real. “I really don’t know who you would choose to take down with you, your highness...They must’ve chosen you for some reason that we just can’t see, our saviour.” 

With another hot scalding stab shook her body, her entire body slumped over, her eyes blurring with the pain, a low groan of pain escaped her mouth once again as she was embraced by the arms of a familiar darkness.

_ “Is my love not enough for you?”  _

_ Siyeon sat on the chair furthest from Minji, her eyes filled with tears as she gazed at the princess that sat on one of the chairs that was placed in their bedchamber, the fireplace was lit and Minji refused to look anywhere near her, her jaw was set and fire was in her eyes. _

_ “How long have you been seeing her, Siyeon?” Minji’s voice came out strong and firm, authority dripping through it heavily. “And if you lie, I’ll make sure you hear her scream-”  _

_ “Minji, don’t hurt her!” Siyeon fell to her knees, tears in her eyes as she grasped one of her bejewelled hands desperately, begging her to be merciful. “She’s innocent in all of this!”  _

_ “Is she? Is she really?” The princess finally met her eyes and Siyeon’s stomach churned, she saw all the anger and pain that she had been holding. “If my memory serves correctly, she is nothing more than a staff member in MY family home. She knows who you are and who you belong to-”  _

_ “Belong.” Siyeon let her hands drop onto her thighs, her eyes suddenly empty. “I belong to you, is that what you were going to say?” Siyeon slowly got to her feet, her eyes no longer meeting the princess’, her voice shook as she spoke. “I-that’s so fucked up, Minji.”  _

_ “Yeah, it is, isn’t it?” Minji let out a humourless laugh that made Siyeon once again look at her to see the newly fallen tears and saw how she clutched the arms of the chair. “Welcome to just a fraction of how I feel.” _

_ “What’s wrong with you?”  _

_ “So much.” Minji pushed back her hair as she covered her face with her hands as a sob escaped from her mouth. “I have all these decisions and people who are in my life who always want something from me, Siyeon! Whether it be my blood, body or my crown...My life isn’t my own Siyeon, it belongs to them...I exist only for them and I’m here because they’re allowing me to be..”  _

_ “Minji?” Siyeon’s voice was gentle. “What do you mean?”  _

_ “There are specific reasons on why Polaris is the way it is, it’s all my fault.” Minji let her head fall backwards. “I shouldn’t exist. I wish I didn’t.”  _

_ “Minji-”  _

_ Minji grinned at the ceiling above as if she saw someone she knew from her past there, her hand outstretched as if reaching from an unknown hand. “The Gods have decided my fate..”  _

_ Siyeon slowly took her hand, bringing her back down to Earth, and she immediately met her betrotheds eyes. “You’re not making much sense...you’re not making any sense.” _

_ Minji placed a hand on her cheek, the younger girl’s hand placed over, keeping it there for a moment, her thumb brushing over the back of a small hand. The atmosphere in the room was heavy, anger was no longer present in the princess’ eyes but rather a sadness that the wolf had never seen before.  _

_ “It doesn’t make sense now, darling..” Minji gave a small yet understanding smile as she gazed into the eyes that held a million stars. She stood up, forcing her to take several steps back, her hands cupping each other’s face. “But I promise, when you see her, when you feel her...you will know that’s when everything will change.” Minji couldn’t help herself from leaning in, her breathing shallow as she brushed her bottom lip, her voice suddenly soft. “I know you don’t love me, Siyeon...If you want that girl from the Kitchen staff, you can have her. I don’t have enough power and authority to set you completely free, only the King can do that but you are free to love and to be with whoever you want...as long as you tell me who, okay? I don’t want surprises.”  _

_ “I do love you.” Siyeon protested, her voice cracking when she leaned forward, desperate to connect their lips and to prove that, Minji stopped her with a firm hand. “Please Minji...let me prove it. I don’t love her like I love you, I was just, I needed a release.”  _

_ “Then you ask me.” The Princess’ hand drifted to Siyeon’s neck, giving it a gentle squeeze before connecting their lips in a harsh kiss that made the younger girl breathless. “Whatever you want, I will give it to you.”  _

* * *

*** PRESENT DAY***

“Minji!” Yoohyeon’s voice came out panicked as she shook Minji awake, her entire face pinched with worry. “Please wake up! Please, I can’t lift you when you’re unconscious.” 

“You grab her arm and I’ll grab the other!” Bora’s voice came out exhausted as she wrapped her arms over her neck and began to pull her onto her feet. “We have to get her back before it gets dark.” 

“I’m awake…” Minji whispered as she struggled to get to her feet, letting Yoohyeon and Bora assist her. “I’m awake.” 

“You’ve been passed out since Gahyeon led us to you.” Yoohyeon informed her as she helped to carry her. “We thought you died for a second.”

“ _ Yoohyeon  _ thought you were dead. I on the other hand, I knew you were just snoozing.” Bora rolled her eyes as she led them through the woods like she grew up there, making sure they didn’t accidentally fall down any trenches or hunter traps. “You don’t die that easily.” 

“I don’t die ever!” Minji snorted, wincing when they had to gently ease her down the mini-hill, their grip tightening on her. “Where’s Siyeon? Did you find Yeri?” 

“Gahyeon and Handong took her back to HQ and RV is taking care of Yeri, they both received...sustained bad injuries.” Yoohyeon explained quietly as she once again guided the princess. “But they’ll survive.” 

“Siyeon’s hurt?” Minji stopped moving, worry flashing on her face. “How bad is it?” 

“Minji-” 

“How bad is it, Bora?” Minji’s voice didn’t give her any option to dismiss her, so, the assassin sighed as she turned to face her. 

“She might not be able to walk for awhile, she was badly burned and she also broke her wrist.” Bora answered quietly before a sudden change in wind caused her to look up at the dark clouds that plagued the sky. “We need to go or find shelter.” 

The crunch of the leaves under their boots snapped loudly around them as they walked through the secluded woods that acted as a barrier between all the villages of Polaris, separating them from each other and the rest of the world. Trees so tall that it made them seem like they were touching the sky, leaves of vibrant colours swaying side-to-side on its way to the grass where it symbolises the season changing like they do every year. 

Three hours, that’s how long it took for them to return to their HQ, exhaustion wrecked their bodies as they travelled without taking many breaks, desperate to get home before the sun set and the moon rose, afraid of the creatures that usually crawled out of their holes and hiding places with the dark. 

“Thank God we’re here.” Yoohyeon let out a relieved sigh when the heavy wooden doors closed heavily behind them, the muffled scream of one of the Howlers could be briefly heard. “I don’t think we’re in any shape to take on one of the Howlers right now.” 

“We would die immediately.” Minji agreed as she finally stood on her own and began to make her way towards her bedroom but was stopped by a firm hand on her shoulder. 

Bora tilted her head towards the younger woman,gesturing for Minji to meet her eyes. “You need to tell her, your highness. We can’t keep this from them, not when it’s so close...We need to be a team when we face them, not divided like how we currently are.” 

“Do you think it’s for the best?” The tenderness in the Princess’ voice matched her ex-lovers, gulping nervously when she noticed the tears that had filled the younger one’s eyes. She was pleading. “Yoohyeon, when you’re finished cleaning up, come find me. I need to tell you something.” 

“Okay.” 

* * *

“You’re going to tell her?” Siyeon was propped up on a bed in the medical-bay, her arm placed in a splint and waist bandaged. Her pain had eased slightly, allowing her to sit comfortably as she was hooked up to an IV drip by Dr Sunmi who, rightfully so, scolded them all for taking such risks in the rescue mission. 

“Seems like the right thing to do...Them knowing I’m JiU means there’s no point in hiding things from them anymore, it’s best for all of us if they know.” Minji replied, her hair damp from the shower she took, beginning to form natural waves. She was no longer in her light armour but a rather large pirate shirt. She wore no shorts as the shirt reached just above her knees and exposed her calves. She glanced at the girl that wore similar sleepwear. “Bora thinks it’s a good idea.” 

“I do.” Bora agreed, looking up from whatever book she had been attempting to read. Her hand hung over the arm of the chair so she could hold Siyeon’s hand. Gently swaying it side-to-side as she read. “It’ll stop her from causing any further damages to our bond and, with that, they won’t question her authority again.” 

“They never did question my authority.” Minji protested, pouting slightly. 

“Didn’t they?” Bora smirked as she once again met the Princess’ eyes. “For the first time ever, Gahyeon yelled at you, Dami left without permission and Yoohyeon...well, she was going to go off the rails so I can only imagine what she would’ve done to you, Minji.” 

“Do not suggest that she would betray me so blatantly, Bora. You of all people should know that you shouldn’t try my patience.” Minji’s eyes lit up angrily causing the shorter girl to sit up straighter, an amused look in her eyes, seemingly daring her to cause harm. 

“I think, out of everyone here, the people you are less likely to cause any harm to is Siyeon and I.” Bora let out a laugh that seemed to echo off the walls even more. “You aren’t capable of causing that kind of harm or pain to people you care about?” 

“Don’t test my patience, Bora…” Minji stood up slowly, making her way towards the girl that was resting comfortably on the chair, her legs poised, her familiar smile on her face once the Princess finally made it to her, taking away the book and placing it on the nearby bed before leaning down, holding onto both arms of the chair to lean down. “What is it that you want, Bora?” 

“What do I want?” 

“Yes,” Minji studied her closely, noticing how the younger girl began to struggle to meet her eyes, how she glanced at Siyeon desperately but she just sat there. Placing one finger under her chin, Minji made her look at her, smirking slightly when she heard the nervous gulp. “You obviously want something if you’re saying what you’re saying and I want to know what, so tell me what it is and, if you ask me nicely enough, you’ll get it.” 

“Minji-” 

“Address me properly, Bora.” Minji whispered. She was so close to the girl that she practically could feel her breath on her lips, able to taste her peppermint toothpaste. 

Bora once again swallowed, her eyes darkened with lust and want. “Your highness,” 

“Yes? What is it that you would like, Bora?” Minji hummed in response.

“You.” Bora’s voice came out hushed yet breathy as she spoke, how she leaned forward desperately to only rest her forehead on Minji’s.“I want you.” 

Siyeon’s sharp inhale was audible when the Princess met her eyes, she shrugged in response as a silent answer to a silent question. Her breathing was heavy as she watched how Minji turned to face Bora once again, her eyes watching her lips closely. 

“Why do you want me, Bora?” Minji whispered, leaning in slowly only to pull away once again, smirking whenever the younger girl would try and chase after her to only release a whine whenever she would pull away. “Tell me what you want.” 

“I want-” 

A knock at the door made their heads turn quickly, instantly putting distance between them before a familiar face popped around the crack, instantly smiling when she saw the older girl. 

“Hi Yooh.” Siyeon was the first one to greet her, giving the two eldest time to somewhat recover and catch their breaths. “Come in, make yourself comfortable. It’s going to be hell of a story.” 

Minji sat on the armchair that was beside the lit fireplace, basking in its warmth for a brief moment before her eyes had instinctively wandered to Yoohyeon who awkwardly hovered in the room. “Yoohyeon-ah, come sit here with me.” 

Yoohyeon nodded, her cheeks turning red but, thankful it was hidden by the orange glow that came from the fire. Minji pulled her onto her lap, her hand wrapping around her waist. Yoohyeon tucked her knees up, cuddling closer to her, burying her face in the older girl’s neck and inhaling the calming scent of lavender. “You smell nice…” 

“Thank you, pup.” Minji’s voice came out heavy as the breathing on her neck, one of her hands gently trailing down her leg causing the younger one to shiver slightly and lean in closer. 

Siyeon cleared her throat causing Minji to look over, her eyes immediately landing on Bora’s before going to Siyeon’s. “Are you going to start any time soon?” 

“Alright!” Minji cleared her throat, her eyes on the fire in front of her as she watched the flames engage with each other in their usual dance, listening to how they spoke to each other. “The first thing you need to know is that The Spider is an actual person.” 


	8. Soon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait for the update. Hopefully it doesnt disappoint :) 
> 
> I wish you all a very Merry (late) Christmas and a Happy New year. 
> 
> All comments are welcomed and appreciated. 
> 
> twt: @awoominjiyoo

_ No one was sure when exactly the Spider began to appear in the Kingdom of Polaris but everyone was certain that, whatever it is, has been here for at least a few centuries. Many Historians of Polaris believed that the Spider was originally a God, one who was disgraced and, as punishment, was sent to the land of the lowly humans. Throughout the years, the Spider had bided its time, feeding whenever it could in order for it to get stronger, scheming their revenge against the Gods that betrayed it, ridiculed it, and then threw it from the Heavens as if it was nothing more than a mere bird, not worthy of respect. _

_ King Berithm was a good ruler right up until his final years and many people began to speculate all the different reasons on why he suddenly turned sadistic in his punishments. He was no longer the loving King that the people had come to know. He was cruel, unfair and took pleasure in things he never liked before like torture and cruel games that usually ended with a servant dead.  _

_ Minji couldn’t remember much about her father, he was nothing to her, not even a distant memory. The only memory she had before King Fredrick took over was Berithm visiting her quarters, hugging her tightly before a sharp stab flashed through her stomach. When she screamed, the knights of Polaris stormed into her room, General Fredrick, Murati and Lee leading the charge with their swords drawn.  _

Minji took a sharp inhale as she paused, closing her eyes as her memories began to resurface clearly and the pain still fresh as if everything had just happened. “You see, so many people crave the power that the Royal Family have. King Berithm was originally the old General, along with Murati and Siyeon’s father. They wanted power and, using fear and lies, managed to take over.” 

“King Berithm stole children..” Yoohyeon frowned. “There was evidence, remember? One of the children escaped and told everyone.” 

“And that, with every other piece of evidence, is a  _ lie.”  _ Minji explained, her eyes flashing with anger. “It was all part of their power play. There has been a collection of people who have the ultimate control of everything that happens in Polaris, each faction controls a village which is why, in most places, if you get caught committing a crime, you only are in trouble with the Lord or Heiress of the family that controls the water, money and food that the villagers receive.” 

“Lady Emilia was in charge of Rossedi, Murati is in charge of Raidia, Avensei belongs to Duvall,” Bora stood up, map in hand and she placed a map on the table, un-rolling it so she could point out what villages belong to who, “The village of Berinis belongs to Ji-eun Lee and Cisdissia belongs to Taeyeon Kim.” 

Yoohyeon immediately got her feet. “You mean-” 

“Your aunt?” Minji finished, “Yes. She’s part of the Order of the Spider.” 

“So, together they are all part of this...order?” Yoohyeon asked, confusion still in her voice. 

“There is one more person who isn’t a...Lord or Heiress of any villages and her name is  Bavishya.” Minji shuddered at the mention of the name, her eyes floated to Siyeon who smiled encouragingly at her. “She’s a seer for the Spider, she’s known to be the greatest...the most accurate. Most things she said occurred exactly how she predicted they would, gave her the reputation of a witch.” 

“Most things? So that means that she’s not exact?..” Yoohyeon’s voice was hopeful with her question, her eyes never leaving the princess’ as they demanded an answer, an honest one. 

Minji inhaled sharply. “A lot of things she’s seen have yet to pass, so, by default, there is a lot of time to change the course of the future.” 

“Tell her what’s to come.” Siyeon’s voice was quiet but everyone in the room heard it perfectly, there was no other sound but the crackling of the fire and the taps of the rain hitting the high rise windows. 

Minji switched her position on the chair so she could face the puppy properly, her hand still draped over her thighs to keep her from falling off her lap, her thumb making soft circles on the exposed skin there, an attempt to calm her racing heart. 

Yoohyeon looked at her expectedly, a reassuring smile on her face as she encouraged her to talk, to tell her what needed to be known. 

“For the Spider to regain their God status, they need to become human for a short moment before ‘dying’ and to do this, they need someone close to death and of the same bloodline. Someone gifted so the possession of the mortal body will be easy.” Minji began to explain slowly, occasionally looking up to check on the puppy to make sure she was understanding. “Gods cannot die, which is why they need a human so their life forces can entwine together before the thread of their life that belongs to the fates is snipped.” 

“And what has this got to do with you?” Yoohyeon’s voice was shaky from either confusion or worry, the eldest didn’t know exactly but she could feel the slight panic in her tone, the puppy’s hand pinching the skin behind her own rather roughly. 

“My actual father and mother didn’t consummate their marriage as they both feared for the monarchy, riots were more often and rebels tried to attack. They feared that bringing a child into the world would make it worse but it didn’t. Not having an heir announced made the people even more antsy as they feared for their future, fear for a neighbouring kingdom taking over.” She recalled the events of the past as she herself were there, alive to experience them happening. “The Spider visited my father in a dream, offering him a deal. Peace for a baby. After my mother was confirmed to be expecting her first child, the people settled down and peace did happen for a while. There were no more random attacks on the Castle until after I was born. The Spider appeared in the dreams of the townsfolk, whispering of the horrible deeds that my father was planning to do. They poisoned the people’s minds, turning them slowly against the monarch until the day of his assassination by his own royal guard...Another victim of the Spider’s posionous words.” 

“Minji..” 

“To answer the question on your mind, puppy...Yes.” Minji nodded slowly. “I am the one the Spider is supposed to possess. Their blood and DNA run through my veins, they make me who I am and are the reason why I can do so many rare things that scare the townspeople, that scared them into creating the Resistance… I was put on this Earth to die, that is my fate...So, that’s how it shall be. My death is the key to ending all of this.” 

“You’re not dying!” Yoohyeon’s voice was full of panic as she stood up, her eyes finding the couple who seemed to refuse to meet her gaze. Anger rushed through her, her hands flailing around as she spoke and paced in front of the fire that seemingly agreed with her with a rather large crackle. “We are not letting you die, Minji. We can find another way to make Polaris a better place, we just need options! That’s it, we’ll go to the library and look for other ways!” 

Minji stood up, her toes clenching at the feeling of the cold floor before gently catching hold of Yoohyeon’s hands, pulling her close to her so she was able to rest her head on top of hers in an attempt to calm her down. 

“If that would make you happy, then of course we can look for other options, okay?” Minji whispered, once the younger’s breathing became slightly less erratic. “I’m sure there’s something we missed so we can use a fresh pair of eyes.” Minji hummed as she gently nudged her head against the younger girl’s head, smiling when she saw the relieved smile on her face. “But, for now, puppy, you need rest. It’s late and I want to take you somewhere tomorrow. Just the two of us, okay?” 

“But I don’t wanna sleep alone.” Yoohyeon whined slightly at the mention of going to bed, she didn’t want to leave the princess’ side, worried that if she closed her eyes for a single moment, she would disappear just like how she did two years ago. Only this time, she wasn’t going to come back. 

“I’ll sleep beside you then, okay?” Minji offered with a smile on her lips, chuckling slightly when the younger girl flushed red and reluctantly agreed, muttering a shy ‘yes’ before hiding her face in Minji’s neck, hugging her tightly. 

The princess hummed into the hug for a moment before making her look at her, gently booping her nose with her pointer finger when she saw how the light of the fire gave the puppy an almost angelic glow, her heart skipping a few beats. “Go to your room, okay? I’ll meet you there.” 

Reluctantly, the taller girl dragged her feet against the floor, saying a quick ‘night’ to Bora and Siyeon before pulling the heavy door shut behind her, leaving them together in a silence that seemed to make everyone tense. 

“You lied to her.” Siyeon stated, her eyes meeting Minji’s, noticing how she was holding back tears. “There is no other option, you know that and yet you’re still giving her hope. Why?” 

“Knowing Yoohyeon, it was either you give her some help or she’ll try and play the hero and get herself killed.” Bora let out a shaky breath at the thought of trouble that the puppy could get herself into if Minji hadn’t agreed with her. 

Minji released a breath that felt that she was seemingly holding it in for hours. Her legs felt weak as she grabbed onto the arms of the chair to keep her standing. 

“There’s nothing wrong with giving her hope, Siyeon. Hope is good, it gives you purpose, a reason to fight.” Minji whispered as the familiar feeling of acid filled her mouth, making her cough a few times. 

A firm hand wrapped around her waist and helped her sit. Bora. Worry crinkled her eyes as she observed the Princess, wiping away the thin layer of sweat that coated her forehead. She heard the laboured breathing of her friend, it was hollow. A sign that whatever the Spider was doing was taking an effect on her body, strengthening the link between them and weakening Minji’s body quicker than it usually did. Her eyes closed as she struggled to maintain consciousness. 

“You didn’t tell her that you were linked to the Spider.” 

Minji’s eyes fluttered open. “She doesn’t need to know that.” 

\--

Ten minutes passed before the creak of Yoohyeon’s bedroom door appeared, causing her to sit up on the bed and was greeted with the sight of Minji holding two wine glasses filled with a liquid that Yoohyeon could barely identify as the only source of light came from the fire. 

“Here you go.” Minji handed her the two glasses before joining her under the blanket before taking back one of the glasses and sipping at it. “It’s red wine, if you’re wondering. From my own collection.” 

Instantly, Yoohyeon’s cheeks reddened as memories came back. The smell of freshly baked brownies wafted through her senses and warmed her body. She hummed with satisfaction when she took a sip, it was the same wine.

“I think about that night a lot, you know.” Minji’s voice was soft. “It’s one of my happiest memories, you know. Being with you. You managed to make me feel safe yet vulnerable. It was as if I was under your spell. I would’ve done anything you asked, I still would if it meant you would look at me with the same eyes that held all of that love and passion…”

“Minji-..” 

“You haven’t looked at me the same way since you found out who I really was.” Minji continued, her voice shaking slightly. “I never wanted to hurt you, Yooh. I wanted you to see that I was different. That I’m not a threat and that I’m not going to hurt you, ever.” 

“I-” 

Minji sat both of their glasses on the ground before straddling her, Yoohyeon’s hands naturally finding their way to her exposed thighs, gently squeezing the skin there to let her know to continue, that their position was okay. 

Minji observed the younger girl, seeing how her eyes seemingly sparkled in the soft glow of the emitted by the fire. It painted across her features beautifully, complimenting her soft features and defining her lips , making them more alluring than they already are. 

“Everything I have ever said to you, everything I told you was true, Yoohyeonie.” Minji inhaled sharply when Yoohyeon released a shaky breath that hit her lips due to their proximity with each other. The younger one’s familiar vanilla scent seemed much stronger than usual in this position, their foreheads rested against each other, their breathing equally as heavy and as uneven as the other. 

“Everything you said..” Yoohyeon’s voice was low, the slight rasp awakening a fire that was buried in the other’s body. 

Minji nodded, inhaling rather loudly when the puppy’s hand found her waist and pulled her closer, their noses touching each other. 

She was getting impatient, they both were. They were struggling to hold back, both wanting to let Minji finish whatever she was saying, to let her admit what they both knew but never got to say before. Yoohyeon swallowed nervously as she gazed adoringly at the girl above her, with her sharp features and the warm glow of the fire, Minji looked unearthly. Her beauty is otherworldly. 

Yoohyeon’s eyes filled with tears so she leaned forward, an attempt to hide her emotions in the older girl’s neck to which she was immediately greeted with a hug. 

“What’s wrong, puppy?” 

The question was simple, the answer wasn’t. There were so many things wrong with everything that she struggled to form a coherent thought, a straightforward answer. How could she tell the person who saved her life so many times, who took care of her out of the goodness of her own heart, who would sacrifice herself without a second thought that she loves her? How would a Princess ever love someone like her? 

Anxiety bubbled through her chest as she answered, “I’m okay..” 

“Puppy…” Minji’s voice encouraged her to look at her, teary eyes meeting concerned ones. There was no urgency for her to speak so they stayed like that for a while. Looking. Gazing. 

“I’m scared that, one day, I’m going to wake up and you’re not going to be beside me…” The younger one admitted softly, unable to meet the Princess' eyes anymore for fear of what the others could hold. “I want you to be beside me, bunny, I want you to grow old with me.” 

“I can’t promise you that puppy.” 

“Then what’s the point in trying? I don’t want to be with you at all if I can’t be with you forever.” Tears escaped as she tried to choke back her sob but was unable to do so. “It’s unfair for me if we suddenly-” 

Soft lips pressed against her own, making the younger girl to release a moan at the familiar feeling. Hands moved up her neck to hold her jaw, keeping her there as two thumbs brushed her jawline, something the that the older girl knew calms her down, The kiss deepened when the puppy pushed herself up so they could be on the same level, her hands wrapping around her waist, holding her tight and close as if she was afraid that if she let go for a single moment then the Princess would vanish. 

Minji’s hand tangled in the taller one’s hair, holding gently to make sure she wasn’t hurting her, their tongues dancing to a familiar song. Both girls were absolutely breathless by the end of the kiss, their foreheads resting together as they tried to recover. Their lips wet from the kiss and slightly swollen. 

“Don’t leave me…” Yoohyeon croaked weakly, her bottom lip trembling before she dragged between her teeth in an attempt to keep it still. 

\-- 

“She’s going to leave her broken.” Bora whispered into the darkness as she looked towards the shadow of her girlfriend who had her head rested on her chest, listening to the calm and strong heartbeat. “We’ll need to keep an eye on her.” 

“Maybe they’ll find a way for her to survive.” Sleepiness was present in the wolf’s voice as she replied, her eyes closed as she felt the older girl holding her close, keeping her pressed against her chest. “Maybe hope shouldn’t be lost yet.” 

“Maybe..” Bora hummed in agreement. “There is a possibility that we missed something or even overlooked it. Knowing Yoohyeon, she won’t stop until she finds the answer that saves Minji.”    
  


At the mention of the Princess, Siyeon’s body stiffens, remembering what she was told all those years ago, how she was made to promise to not get in the way. To let fate take its course. 

“I’m sorry for how I behaved earlier.” Bora’s voice was soft as she apologised, tight with emotion as she tried her best to hold in her tears. “I wasn’t thinking and I should’ve been...I’m sorry if I made things awkward.” 

“You didn’t..” Siyeon pushed herself up onto her elbow so she could see the older girl properly. “It just took me by surprise, okay? Don’t worry, please.” 

“You deserve someone better than me,” Bora released the tears she had been holding back in the last few minutes and was immediately hugged by her girlfriend. “I keep fucking up, Signie.” 

“Tell her how you feel, Bboya.” Siyeon whispered, her hand drifting to her girlfriend’s waist, her other arm now resting above her head so she wouldn’t fall on top of her. “Maybe it’ll help you if you actually spoke to her, so she knows how to treat you.” 

She attempted to protest, her voice shaking, “She likes Yoohyeon…” 

“Very true, but you also have feelings and, if you ask, she can take them away.” Siyeon brushed the stray hair away from Bora’s eyes before holding her hand. “Minji will do it if you ask…”

“Is that what you did? Asked her to get rid of your feelings for her?” Bora questioned, her eyes filled with curiosity. “You couldn’t be with me until your feeling for her completely vanished, so you wouldn’t feel guilty, right?” 

Siyeon inhaled “I did.” 

“And a part of you feels missing, right? Like you’re not completely yourself, right?” Bora nodded when Siyeon didn’t meet her eyes, giving her the answer that she already knew. “It’s interesting how we both have feelings for her, isn’t it? Or, in your case, used to have feelings for her.” 

“She has that effect on people,” Siyeon yelped in surprise when the smaller woman suddenly sat up, meeting her at eye level and causing her to sit back. “I-What?” 

“I’m selfish, aren’t I?” Bora’s eyes dropped to her lover’s lips, “How I want you to only be mine whilst I want you and another.” 

“You’re only human.” Siyeon let out a gasp when Bora began to leave opened mouth kisses on her neck, guiding her onto her back. “I-” She swallowed loudly. “I just want you to be happy.” 

“I am happy, my love.” Bora murmured against her neck, causing the wolf to inhale sharply at the feeling of the vibrations. “You make me so happy.” 

“I-'' Siyeon whimpered in protest when Bora moved away to straddle her, being careful of her wounds. “You make me happy too, Bboya.” 

“Good, I’m glad I do.” Bora kissed her lips gently, smiling down at her lovingly. 

__

“She still isn’t back yet?” Handong stood in Gahyeon’s doorway, her shirt untucked and hair pushed messy back, her eyes filled with concern. 

The fox was curled on their shared bed, her eyes on the ceiling above her, lost in thought that the older woman’s voice startled her. Gahyeon lifted her head slightly to look at the older girl.

“She’s in the bathroom, came back twenty minutes ago. She’s sleepy.” Gahyeon smiled shyly at the older woman, noticing how she stood awkwardly in the doorway before gesturing for her to come closer. “I’m not going to bite you.” 

“How is she?” Handong was hesitant with her movements, not knowing how to address her girlfriend due to their argument earlier. 

“Tired but calm.” Gahyeon reached out for her girlfriend’s hand, pulling her into her arms gently, holding her close. “She’s not mad at you, if that’s what you’re wondering.” 

“She looked pretty mad.” Handong’s voice shook with uncertainty. 

“I wasn’t mad at you,” Dami stood in the doorway that led to their shared bathroom, her short hair wet. Sleepiness was evident in her voice as she made her way towards their bed, each foot dragging across the floor. “Well, I was but I think I was more hurt than mad. We’ve been together for three years, Dongie, and you kept this from me, from us. I guess I was worried in case you lied about other things…” 

“I only lied to you when I had to, not about anything else. My feelings about you both were always true, I never once lied to you about those.” Handong’s voice shook as she struggled to hold back her tears. “I promise, I love you, both of you.” 

Dami connected their lips gently before resting their foreheads together, something she would always do whenever she did to show how sorry she was. 

“I never wanted to hurt you.” Handong expressed quietly, “I was just- I was doing my job, upholding my oath to the Princess.” 

“I know, my love...Let’s go to bed, okay?” 

__

_ Black mist wrapped around Minji’s body, slithering her way towards her neck, wrapping itself around her, successfully cutting off her air. Her back arching as her eyes shot open, hand flying up to hold her neck, the girl beside her still asleep. Soft exhales brushing against her neck causing the hairs on her neck to stand up.  _

_ The Black Mist began to outline the dark figure that perched at the bottom of the bed, the electric blue eyes caused the princess’ eyes widened as she tried to inhale but couldn’t, her hands flayed in panic. Panic coursed through her when she saw the lean woman at the bottom of the bed, their stringy black hair clung tightly to their translucent skin.  _

_ “Why do you continue to fight me, child?” The spider’s voice was hollow and raspy, the ancient entity slowly crept closer to her. “You know it’s going to be useless in the end, might as well give it up now.”  _

_ “I-” Minji gasped for air as the Spider’s spindly fingers dug deeply into her abdomen causing her to arch her back in pain, a scream escaping her mouth as the Goddess began to draw blood, her legs kicking wildly.  _

_ “Give into me, little one. It would be so easy for you to give in, you won’t need to worry about what your friends would think, what the war would look like. You wouldn’t need to worry about which one you’re going to choose,” The God leaned over, their ice cold hand roughly grabbing her neck. “Let. Me. In!”  _

“Minji?” Yoohyeon’s voice was raspy, a sign that she just woke up. Her entire body tensing when she noticed the heavy gurgling sounds coming from the princess beside her. Panic surfaced as she saw the tar substance begging to bubble in her mouth, her hands going to her neck as she arched in apparent pain. The tall puppy shoved her off the bed and onto her stomach causing the princess’ eyes to spring open.

Minji retched, the thick black tar-like substance came out in clumps, her entire body shook when she finally stopped, Yoohyeon rubbed slow circles onto her back, encouraging her to empty whatever substance she had consumed. 

“I’m okay..” Minji croaked, her entire body was shaking furiously as she tried to collect herself. “I’m fine.” 

“Should I get Sunmi?” Yoohyeon was apprehensive as she shimmied off the bed, getting on her knees to be on the same level as her. “We should clean you up.” 

Minji looked down, noticing her the tar on her shirt and let out a weak giggle. “This sucks.” 

“It’s okay, honey.” Yoohyeon scooped up the older woman into her arms and made her way towards her bathroom, placing her on the toilet, the tall puppy leaned over to turn on the hot water, filling up the bath silently. 

“I-” Minji swallowed, her voice still hoarse from being choked. “What are you doing?”

“Giving you a bath.” Yoohyeon met her eyes. “I know you’re exhausted, don’t even try to deny it okay? I can see it...So, we’ll get you cleaned up, give you a new shirt and underwear to sleep in and go back to bed, okay? Your eyes..” Yoohyeon began to nervously rub her hand. “It’s like you didn’t sleep at all.” 

“I did” Minji whispered, her hand holding her throat in an attempt to soothe the pain. 

““You know, when I was sleeping, I had this urge to check on you, to wake up.” Yoohyeon admitted as she added the scent to the bath before meeting her eyes again. “It was as if my body was telling me that you were in trouble and that I needed to wake you up…” 

“What did you see?” 

“Nothing except you choking on something black, you threw it up though,” Yoohyeon frowned. “What was that? I never seen a substance that...bubbled like that before.” 

“I don’t know…” Minji’s eyes were teary, her hand still on her neck causing Yoohyeon’s eyes to drift there, her eyes widening. 

“Minji, what happened?” Yoohyeon rushed to the cupboard under the sink, grabbing her medical supply before kneeling in front her, gently removing her hand from her neck so she could take a better look.“Minji, what the fuck? How did you do this?” 

“Do what?” 

“Your neck, it’s bruising and also red...like you were being burned by something.” Yoohyeon began to apply some remedy to her neck, the sudden coldness making her shiver before relaxing. “There’s also some dried blood, did you scratch yourself?” 

“I was having a nightmare before you woke me up.” Minji confessed quietly, her eyes watering slightly. “I, uh, I was being attacked, I guess.” 

“By who?” Yoohyeon turned to turn off the water before gesturing to her to get into the tub. 

Minji did what she was told, stripping before getting into the warm water relaxing immediately, the younger girl immediately beginning to lather her hair with water, her touch gentle. “You know who, puppy...You just want me to say it and confirm your suspicions.” 

“That’s not true at all,” Yoohyeon pouted causing Minji to soften. “I really don’t know and the only reason I’m asking is so we can prevent it from happening again, to keep you safe.” 

“It was the Spider, Yooh.” She tucked her legs into her chest, making herself small as the other girl washed her hair before beginning to lightly lather some soap on her hands and begin to wash her neck, massaging it slightly causing her to let out a relieved breathy moan. “That feels really nice.” 

Ignoring the sound with rosy cheeks, Yoohyeon finished helping her wash before assisting her out of the tub. Her grip was light as she helped her to sit on the toilet, disappearing before reappearing with a black tunic. 

“I’m not sure if this is going to fit you but it’s better than dirty sleepwear.” Yoohyeon apologised as she handed the clothing over. “I’ll be in the bedroom, call me if you need me, okay?” 

Minji nodded before she was left alone in the bathroom. 

Shakily, the princess made her towards the mirror, each step felt like a thousand needles being pushed through the pads of her feet causing her to lurch forward and grab the sink to keep herself from falling. Tears sprang from her eyes as the burning pain began to resurface on her neck. 

“Please, please not now, not yet!” The princess prayed quietly as she tried to encourage herself to look into the mirror, a shaky hand rising to wipe the tears from her face. “Give me more time, all I ask for is more time...I’m not ready. Please, you’ve been ignoring me for so long, I can’t take it any longer, please, just answer!” 

When no reply came, the princess slowly opened her eyes, her heart stopping at the sight in front of her. Ice blue eyes stared back at her and even though her expression was nothing less than horrified, it was clear that the reflection in front of her was no longer her own. 

Slowly a smirk began to grow as a promise that was made years ago returned like a breeze on a hot summer day. 

_ “Soon.”  _


End file.
